Prince Yuki
by Warm-Ice
Summary: Yuki's been missing for a week now and Kyou is forced to look for him. when he does find the mouse, his jaw drops! What's he doing in Hanajima's house? HatorixHanaxYuki, KyouxTohru. To whom would Hanajima give her heart? The doctor or the prince?
1. Prince

Prince Yuki

Chapter 1:

Kyou looked at Tohru's nervous form, walking in circles across the hall. It has been one whole week since Yuki ran away. It was after he found out from Shigure that Tohru and Kyou were now officially 'together'. Of course no one told Tohru in fear that she might feel guilty. _'Baka nezumi he's so stupid to have ran away! Baka nezumi!' _he thought angrily, seeing his girlfriend worry so much about the rat.

"Tohru-kun, Tohru-kun, you should really calm down." Shigure said, patting Tohru's shoulders. "Yuki-kun is old enough now, he'll be fine on his own. Come on, eat." It's true; three days after Yuki's disappearance, Tohru stopped eating. She was so worried that she couldn't eat even when Hatori told her to. Akito didn't want for the others to look for Yuki so no one looked for him.

Except Haru, that is, who didn't stop looking for Yuki. But Haru was so stupid, he got lost in two days. No one knew where he was but he somehow got to Beijing…

"Demo, Shigure-san, I—" Tohru started with worried eyes. But before she could continue, Kyou already stood up, not taking anymore of this. The two looked at him.

"Alright, alright! I'll look for that damned rat! Just stop fasting already!" he yelled, still concerned with her health. She was a lot thinner and paler than usual…he didn't like it one bit.

Tohru looked up at him with admiration and appreciation, "Oh, thank you, Kyou-kun! Thank you!" Kyou saw the relief in Tohru eyes and smiled sadly, she was hopelessly too nice. He took her by the head gently and kissed her forehead, making her blush lightly.

"Ufufufu! Young lovers!" Shigure teased, causing Kyou to send him flying to the wall.

"SHUT UP YOU BAKA!"

Later that afternoon, Kyou was in his cat form, running from rooftop to rooftop with a bag of clothes on his back. He was prepared for anything, absolutely anything. He started picking up an old scent and followed it, jumping from roof to roof.

When he was just about to jump to another room, he stopped when he saw smoke coming out of a window. He was…surprised to say the least.

It was Hanajima's room, she was looking out the window and it all happened so fast she didn't even have time to react! Yuki transformed back to his human form while Hanajima's back was turned to him and he quickly took advantage of it but hugging her from behind! He transformed so quickly that when Hanajima turned to see who it was, he was already a mouse!

Kyou's jaw dropped to the ground. Yuki…that damned rat…the Prince…did THAT!

Hanajima turned to look at who hugged her but found a small rat on the floor. She smiled, bending down and scooping him up in her petite and gentle hands. "Prince-chan, were you the one that hugged me?" she asked in her normally dead tone.

Yuki squeaked and cuddled Hanajima's thumb, making Kyou's eyes bulge out completely! He could not believe Yuki could do such a thing!

Hanajima smiled her soft, creepy smile again, "I thought for a moment there that someone actually was here. I'll go get some cheesecake, do you want some?" she asked, her tone never changing.

Yuki squeaked again, nodding in delight. "Stay here." Hanajima said, putting him down on her desk. When the door closed, Kyou quickly gathered his wits and jumped to the window ledge.

"You damned rat! What do you think you're doing!" he yelled, hissing at the shamelessness of him. At first Yuki had a horrified expression on his face, uttering his name in surprised. But then his face turned gloomy and he turned away.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, ashamed that the baka neko saw him in such a state.

"I'm looking for You you damn rat! Don't you think Tohru's worried about you!" Kyou tried his best to be calmer about things but Yuki was being selfish, running away like this.

"I'm sorry." Was Yuki's sincere apology, "But I won't go back."

"What! You're out of your damn mind!"

"I'm sorry, but I won't go back!" Yuki said, more sternly this time. "Hana-chan…she's…I like being with her…"His voice softened when he mentioned her name. Hna had taken good care of him since she found him on her porch, sick and weak. Ever since then, he had felt indebted to her. So he did what he could to help around the house without revealing his secret. And she had proven to be more normal than how people thought of her. She was kinder, less creepy and more misunderstood than she normally wanted others to see her as. She was more complex and yet simple at the same time. He wanted to learn so much about her.

"Stop being so selfish, you damn rat! Don't you know that Tohru hasn't eaten for two whole days because she's so damn worried about you!" Kyou finally released his anger and said everything he was thinking.

Yuki whirled around to face Kyou with wide eyes. "Tohru! Why didn't you make her eat!"

"She's too worried over you, you damn stupid rat!" he looked as if about to pounce but was quickly distracted by a click. They both turned to the sound and were wide eyes, their hairs standing on end at the sight of the dangerous shotgun in Hanajima's hands.

Hanajima readied the shotgun and Kyou jumped away in time before the bullet could hit him! Resulting in him falling from the second floor to the ground. Yuki was still in a state of shock while Hanajima put the shotgun aside and patted the mouse, saying, "Don't worry, Prince-chan, that orange cat can't eat you now."

Yuki stared on, still shocked. "We ran out of cheesecakes, Prince-chan. Megumi ate it all." She said, going to her closet. "I'll just change out of my school uniform." Before Yuki could realize what Hana just said, she was already I a state of undress! She was standing in her closet in her underwear, (which was actually lacy and black) and whoa! What a sight to behold!

As soon as he thought of that, he felt blood dripping from his nose and he quickly turned away, ashamed that he stared at Hana. He shouldn't have thought of what he just thought. And he shouldn't have seen what he just saw!

"Prince-chan…I'm worried about Tohru-kun." She spoke gently and yet tonelessly, as if lifeless.

Yuki's attention was fully on her but he stopped himself before turning, she might still be choosing her clothes.

"Ever since Yuki, the Prince I named you after, disappeared, she started eating less and less. She doesn't even smile anymore like she always does." Yuki felt guiltier now that the words were coming from her. She was sad because Tohru was sad, and she was sad because of him! It was his entire fault!

"I hate him." When she said that, Yuki froze. Not knowing what to think. She hated him. She said it herself. "He took her away from me. And now, he makes her suffer. I hate him…" she declared coldly.

Yuki felt like crap now, everyone hated him. And it was his entire fault for being so stupid and selfish. Kyou was right. And yet he still didn't want to leave Hanajima. But he had to make a decision before anything else went wrong.

That night, Yuki transformed into his human state again. This time, Hana was sound asleep in her bed. He watched her from where he stood, looking longingly down at her. He made his decision and he knew it was the right thing to do. But he would still miss her.

So he walked over to her, his and her form bathed in moonlight. He laid beside her and stared at her back turned to him. He sighed, for her sake, he thought. Slowly, almost painfully, he wrapped his arms around her sleeping form and tenderly embraced her, knowing that it would be his last chance. He transformed and sighed, staying a moment with her.

Hana groaned and turned to face him, seeking his warmth. But when she found no one beside her, she curled into a ball, hiding her face behind her knees. Yuki longed to hold her, to comfort her, to stay… but he couldn't. With one last look, he went to the window and ran to Shigure's house, never turning back.


	2. Hope

Prince Yuki

Chapter 2:

Shigure dialed the phone…ring…ring…ring…

"Hello?" Hatori answered.

"Hey, Har'i-chan!"

Hatori's voice was displeased and bored, "What is it, Shigure?"

"Well I just wanted to let you know that our precious Yuki has come home!" was Shigure's cheerful reply, looking back at the dining room where Kyou, Tohru and Yuki were eating together. Tohru was so happy to see Yuki again that she made a large dinner to celebrate his return. Of course, she had to reassure Kyou a bit, but Kyou soon helped out.

But what disturbed him the most was that…Yuki was quiet…too quiet. Wherever he went, it must've been a grand place to live in. Why else would he be so sad? Wasn't Tohru's happiness enough to make him smile again? This was really strange…

"I see…" was Hatori's reply. "That's good news. I'll let Akito know right away."

"Ah," Shigure said, sounding disappointed, "Won't you come over and celebrate with us first? I'll let you compliment my little wife's cooking." Shigure teased. Out of nowhere, an empty cup hit the back of his head and he doubled forward, almost crashing into the phone with his face. He turned, rubbing his sore bump and saw that it was an irate Kyou.

"Who's little wife!" he yelled angrily.

And the chaos went on throughout the night, but Yuki's mind was somewhere else. He looked out into the sky, watching the moon play hind and seek with the stars, hiding behind clouds and peeking. It used to be that he would be looking out into the night sky, back in Hanajima's room, thinking of Tohru. But now that he was out of that beautifully dark room, he could not stop thinking about Hanajima!

What would she think when she wakes up? She'll think he ran away! And what about that project he had to help Megumi with! Can he do it without his lab mouse? And what about Hanajima's morning kiss? She relied on him to wake her up every morning so she wouldn't be late for school because her stupid clock wouldn't work! And what about Hanajima's favorite cheesecakes! She could never finish a whole one on her own!

She needed him! He thought so. But then, he had to admit to himself: he needed her. He just couldn't forget about her. That week had been the only time he had ever really gotten to know Hanajima. In moments when he saw her, all he thought of her was; Tohru's friend, the goth, creepy. But when he actually opened his eyes to see her, she was so much more than that!

She was the epitome of contradiction! She was silent in words but her actions were loud. She was beautiful but wanted to be ugly. She was kind but heartless. She was whole but hollow. She was weak and yet strong. People surrounded her yet she was so very alone. She was grounded but a dreamer. She was so…unique and yet wanted nothing more than to be like everyone else! He wanted so much to know absolutely everything about her.

He knew some of her likes; like cheesecake, the color black, Tohru, Uotani, her father and Megumi. Hanajima didn't like her mother because she always referred to her as the 'cursed one'. Yuki hated her too. From what he heard from Hana, he found out that she had always hated Hana because her father loved her more and their marriage was going down the drain. Hana's mother hated her for selfish reasons and called her hurtful names ever since she was a child, scarring her for life and never giving her confidence in herself. Yet Hana still tried her best to win her mother's affections. Even though everything she does resulted in vain.

If only he had talked to her more before! He wished he had known Hana even before he met Tohru. But wait—something sparked within him. He could still get to know her! It wasn't too late! He could still talk to her, not as Prince but as Yuki! Then she would be able to recognize him as Yuki Souma, her…friend. Not just as Prince, her pet mouse. She had opened up a part of her to him unconsciously, showing him her true self. Now he wanted her to see him, his true self.

The next day, Yuki walked the school halls, alone and alert. He peered outside, not there. He peered into rooms, not there either. Then he saw, straight ahead, Hana talking to—ugh! His fan club members! There were yelling her way and she was taking it all in until her dempa revealed itself. The girls froze and ran away! Yuki sighed of relief but wondered, why were they picking on Hana of all people?

Yuki walked over to her, nervous but straining to calm himself. Hana turned to him, sensing his strange waves getting stronger. She looked up at him blankly, like always. Yuki smiled calmly, assuring himself that he had talked to more than enough girls to know that he was suave. But he wasn't. he was uncharacteristically sweating, nervous and his hands were trembling. Damn it! Why was he so nervous! She was just staring blankly at him, expectant and silent. _And beautiful._

"O-ohaiyo, Hanajima-san, nice weather huh?" he smiled. _Damn it, of all the things to talk about, why the weather!_

Hana looked blankly at him, "It's 35 degrees outside." She answered.

"aha," he laughed sheepishly, "ahahaha. Yeah, uh, I noticed. So—uhm…I was just wondering…if you had any plans for later this afternoon?"

Hana raised a delicate brow at him, clearly wondering. "Why?"

"I was—wondering if…you would like to get some…cheesecakes later on?" he asked, hoping she would say yes. Hana stared at him for a moment longer, still Yuki felt himself wondering what went on in her mind.

He wanted so much to know what she was thinking, what she thought of him, and what she felt about him. She hated him, he reminded himself. She said it herself; she hated him. But he hoped it was not yet too late for her to get to know him and change her feelings towards him. Aside from the fact that he didn't want Hana to hate him, he also didn't like hearing her toneless empty voice be filled with such malice. It wasn't like her.

"I'm sorry." She said, "But no." he felt his heart ache at that. He looked down with disappointment.

"I see." But he smiled up at her, "Maybe tomorrow?" he hoped.

She stared at him again, contemplating. "Maybe…" she answered then walked away with grace. Yuki felt himself brighten, '_maybe' _was a positive answer! '_Maybe, maybe, maybe_!' he kept repeating in his mind joyfully! He had a chance!

So glad was Yuki that he didn't notice 2 big brown eyes staring wildly at him. Momiji turned from the sight of the wistful looking Yuki and then to Haru, walking towards the cow from the door where he stood, witnessing the whole thing. Someone had to explain to him Yuki's strange actions! And who better than the now found cow that openly declares his love for the mouse.

Review Responses:

flyingcat inc. : hai! Hai! I've updated as you have commanded!

Cerii-chan Kawaii: haha! That's true!

Leihko: oh, don't worry, it's not.

Hana: oh it won't be Haru he'll be jealous of. It's someone I really, really like.

Ria: yes, I see the spelling errors. I'll try to fix that!


	3. Visitors

Prince Yuki

Chapter 3:

He watched from the school gates as Yuki spoke to Hanajima, Saki. He was casually speaking to her and she looked at him blankly. They held a fair distance, not giving away any special relationship that Yuki might have been hiding.

Yesterday, Haru had brought him very disturbing news from school. Momiji told him and Haru, whom for the first time didn't know what Yuki was doing, came to him. He doubted to tell Akito so he decided to go there first and find out for himself.

The breeze was refreshing as it blew the leaves from its perch up the trees. Yuki smiled down at his 'master' anxious again for her answer. "I was just wondering if you weren't busy today. Maybe we could go for that cheesecake." He asked, more confidently this time.

Again, Hana took a moment to consider. "I'm sorry. I'm busy." But she didn't turn on her heels and go this time. She stayed and noticed the disappointment in the Prince's eyes and felt the need to explain. "I have to look for my mouse."

Yuki looked up at her with wide eyes, something in him became electrified. "You're—mouse?" he asked.

"He's been missing for two days now." Hanajima said.

"H-how can you find him when he's so small?" Yuki asked nervously.

After a while of thinking, Hana decided to tell him. "He has the same waves as you do."

Yuki stiffened, "W-What! How is that possible?"

"I don't know either. But he **does** have the exact same waves as you. Loneliness," Yuki looked up at her, something alarmed him. Did she just say Loneliness? "Emptiness." She was describing his wave? How he felt? "Care laced by fear." It was as if she read his very heart! It was hurting him to be so…so…so see through! He felt so naked! He had to get away as fast as he could!

"I-I see…" he bowed his head down to hide his horror stricken eyes. "W-well, I'll see you tomorrow then. J-Ja." He waved goodbye and briskly walked away. Hana stared at his retreating form, wondering about him and his strange wave. He was afraid of her, was that it? It seems that way. She then felt another strange wave; she turned to the window and saw, down at the school gate, a man.

'Loneliness, Emptiness…Care laced with Fear…Longing' she thought as she felt his waves. It was much like Yuki Souma's except…more pained. He must have suffered in his past. He must've lost someone dear to him. He had beautiful, lonely eyes. Eyes of despair. He was beautiful.

That night, Tohru was given a great surprise when Haru, Momiji and Hatori came to visit. Momij quickly gave her a big hug when Tohru opened the door, transforming himself into a rabbit.Haru and Hatori politely entered, unfortunately Shigure startd bugging Hatori about how lucky he was to have such a lovely little wife. Soon after, Kyou would do his best to pummel Shigure to the ground.

When everyone was seated, and Tohru had served the food, everyone merrily ate. "So, what bring you here to our humble abode, Ha'ri?" Hatori asked cheerily, stuffing his face.

"Momiji wanted to visit, Hastuharu joined as well." Hatori said, turning his gaze from his food to Shigure. After saying this though, Hatori stole a quick glance to the quiet mouse, smiling as Tohru handed him his bowl of rice.

When Yuki noticed Hatori looking at him, he turned to the doctor. Their eyes locked for a moment, something in Hatori's eyes dug deep into his. As if he was searching for something in him. His frown was deeper in concentration and Yuki frowned at that, not knowing what Hatori was thinking.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang again. Everyone turned to the door and Tohru quickly offered to answer it. When Tohru opened the door, her eyes widened and her smile broadened. "Hana-chan?" she exclaimed. Her friend caught her unexpectedly and she was very happy about the surprise.

"May I come in, Tohru-kun?" Hana said. When Hana entered the house, Tohru quickly led her to the dining room. Everyone in the dining room except the ever-innocent Tohru stiffened, seeing the very creepy, dark and mysterious Hanajima, Saki. Hana was fairly surprised to see so many people tonight but her face betrayed nothing. She bowed politely and greeted them.

"Wow, Hana-chan!" Shigure said with a smile, "You look very pretty without your cloak!" and it was true. Tonight, Hanajima was not wearing her cloak, giving everyone a good view of her slick black dress and very attractive shape. Her long braided hair lay innocently on her shoulder, flowing down to just below her bust and curling at the tip and revealing her long slender neck. The jet-black neckline of her dress was square and revealed her collarbone, but the conservativeness of her dress showed nothing more.

Hana didn't show any emotion but bowed politely to Shigure and saying, "Arigatou…"

It was then that Tohru noticed the box in Hana's hands. "Huh? Hana-chan? What's that?" she pointed to it. Hana lifted it up for Tohru to see, "It's a box…" Tohru sniffed it, "With Cake in it!" she said triumphantly.

"Cake?" Momiji asked.

"Hai. Since Souma, Yuki seems to want cheesecakes so much, I decided to bring him a slice from our house." Hana explained.

"For…Yuki?" Haru uttered, the jealousy stirring inside of him.

"Cheescakes?" Kyou asked.

"I didn't know Souma-kun liked cheesecakes!" Tohru happily said.

Hana looked at Yuki's expression, mildly shocked and amazed. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as the moonlight from the window shined down upon him. Hatori's eyes narrowed dangerously and suspiciously.

"My, my!" Shigure said, after a long while of uncomfortable silence, "How considerate of you, Hana-chan! Yuki-kun, why don't you eat your cake now! Hana-chan, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Hana turned to him, "No, thank you. I still have to look for my missing pet." Before Hana could turn to leave after putting down the box, someone stopped her.

"Ah—Hanajima-san!" Yuki called, standing up to catch up to her if need be. But it seemed she didn't speed away as she stopped and turned to him. Yuki smiled serenely, "Arigatou…" no one could see it in his face but his voice betrayed his disappointment to no one else but Hatori.

Without warning, Hana turned to Shigure, "Dog." Shigure started panicking and felt every single strand of hair in his body stand in terror! "What happened to the dog in your story?" she asked.

Shigure sighed with relief and started laughing nervously, "A-ah, e-eh, It'll find it's master in later chapters."

"I see…" Hanajima said, again being her creepy self. "Then I'll see you around. Good evening to all of you. Take care Tohru-kun." And with that she left.

"Goodnight, Hana-chan! Take care!" Tohru said, waving her friend goodbye.

When Tohru closed the door, everyone watched as Yuki opened the box carefully. "Cheesecakes? I didn't know you liked cheesecakes." Momiji said.

"Well what do you expect? He's a mouse after al—" Kyou said, but was silenced when Haru, who sat beside him, punched him upside the head.

"Don't tease him." Haru declared, maintaining his white nature.

But Yuki wasn't listening to any of this. He was too happy! He slowly opened the box, savoring Hana's first gift to him. A beautiful slice of cheesecake! Sliced by her own delicate hands! He felt so light! He wasn't sure if this was a sign or not but he was happy nonetheless. He's never courte—no, he wasn't courting Hanajima! No! He just wanted to be…friends with her…that's all. Friends…right?

Review Responses:

flyingcat inc.: thank you!

death is waiting: thank you for the support. I hope there will be more HanaYuki fans someday.

animefreak: thank you, I'll do my best!

Keybordist: thank you very much!


	4. Dr Souma

Prince Yuki

Chapter 4:

Yuki walked along the corridors with a smile on his face, the memories of yesterday still oh so fresh in his mind. The way she looked last night wasn't a detail he would like to ignore or even forget for that matter. She was so…dark. But in an attract—was he just about to think 'in an attractive way'? Where did that come from?

"Yuki-sempai!" a high pitched voice called to him, dragging him from his thoughts. He turned curiously to the bearer, a bit annoyed that he was disturbed but let it pass. It was a junior, probably Haru's and Momiji's classmate. She had dark brown hair that reached her shoulders, wide brown eyes and stood a head shorter than him. She took out a pen and notebook and looked up at him eagerly.

"Yuki-sempai, is Dr. Souma, Hatori really your cousin?" she asked with a blush.

Yuki raised a brow, how did they know about him? "Uhm—hai. Why do you ask?"

The junior smiled and blushed shyly, "Ano…I'm supposed to make an article about him for the school paper."

"For the school paper?"

The girl looked surprised, "Oh, you don't know? He just became our school doctor!"

"WHAT!" Yuki's reaction was so unexpected that the girl took a step back at the irritated looking prince. Seeing the girl's face, Yuki collected his calm and smiled, "Gomen. Please excuse me." And with that, he left the girl and walked briskly and as fast as he could to the clinic.

Hatori was peacefully reading his papers when suddenly, the door slammed open! He turned to it, thinking it was Kyou but was slightly surprised to see that it was Yuki. He looked very…irate.

"What are you doing here?" Yuki struggled to calm himself.

Hatori simply looked on calmly and stood to rearrange the medicines in the cabinet. "Akito thought it was best for me to be here with all of you. He didn't believe in the school nurse's capabilities so he wanted me to replace her."

"I'll repeat my question, Hatori, and this time, give me the correct answer; what are you doing here?" Yuki coldly said. He had fully collected his calm but that didn't mean the malice inside him was gone. At the very mention of Akito, his blood both runs cold and boils!

Hatori stopped and looked back at him, thinking if he should or should not. He turned back to his work, "We heard about a disturbing rumor, Yuki."

"And what might that be?" Yuki asked, looking warily at the dragon.

Hatori turned to him again, this time fully. His piercing eyes battled with him as he said, "Hanajima, Saki."

When Hatori uttered her name, Yuki felt a shiver down his spine and fear crawling into his whole being. "W-What about her?" he asked, keeping his shaking hands out of Hatori's sight.

Hatori turned to the window to peer outside, and to his mild surprise, there sat the object of their newest conflict, along with Tohru and her other friend. "I came by yesterday to inspect the relationship between the two of you."

"We don't have a relationship." Yuki defended.

"Yes, I know. But Akito wanted to make sure." Said Hatori, looking down at the young lady, inspecting her dark features. She didn't seem the type to attract many men. And she was the complete opposite of Tohru. So why would Yuki have an interest in her?

"Please." Yuki unexpectedly said in a whisper, shocking Hatori to the point where his eyes widened in surprise. "She doesn't know anything, I promise you. Please…don't do anything to her."

Hatori regained his composure, "We will see what Akito's decision is." Tohru laughed gaily, the blonde laughed with her too. Hanajima just smiled like a ghost. He cocked his head to the side, she wasn't ugly but she wasn't that beautiful either. But what was beauty anyway? It was only a point of view.

Hanajima walked along the halls along with Uotani. Uo was talking about this new game that she wanted to play and Hanajima was only half listening. Suddenly, he felt an all too familiar aura, Yuki. She looked to the side where there was a half opened door. She stopped, staring at the light that seeped through to the halls. Why was Yuki in the clinic?

"Hanajima?" Uo asked, curious. "What's wrong?"

"A strange wave," she said, acknowledging another detail that didn't fee like Yuki. "Is coming from that room."

Uo looked at the sign on the door, "The clinic?" when Arisa looked down to the door, she saw that Hana was already opening the door, which was not how Hana usually worked. It was such a strange sight that it took Arisa a moment to have it registered in her mind. "Ah—Hana don't—"

But she was too late. Hana had already opened the door, revealing a man by the window. He looked like the doctor. He turned to them, taken by surprise.

Seeing that they were caught, Arisa laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh—ehehehehe…sorry, Doctor. We just thought—"

"Dragon." Hatori turned sharply to her, alerted instantly. Hanajima pointed to the calendar on the wall beside her and said, "This is in the year of the dragon." She explained. Hatori relaxed but kept himself aware of this strange girl.

"Hai, it is late. I will replace it soon."

"You will replace it? So…" Arisa asked, "You're our new doctor from now on?"

"Hai."

Arisa started to laugh knowingly and he raised a brow at that. "You will have many female patients this year." Hanajima said blankly as always.

"Female Patients?" Hatori asked.

"Sorry, but in this school, women are more…assertive." Arisa explained. "Just look at Prince Yuki!" she added.

"Oh yes, Yuki, my cousin. How has he been lately?" he deliberately asked, looking down at Hanajima for any reactions. But there was none.

"You were there last night with him, weren't you?" Hanajima asked matter of factly.

Hatori quickly thought of an excuse, "Yes but he doesn't tell me much."

"I see." Hanajima replied plainly.

"Well, he's been good. His grades are stable, his social life is still in tact." Arisa said.

"I see." Hatori said.

"Thank you for your time, Dr. Souma." Hanajima bowed politely and Arisa did the same.

"Your welcome. Come anytime." Hatori invited as the girls walked out of his rather small office. Hanajima slowly and calmly closed the door, giving him one last look at her before she left. It was then that Hatori concluded, her eyes were empty.

Review Responses:

Yuka Kitsune: thank you for your support! And also for waiting!

flyingcat inc.: haha. Thanks for waiting.

Tsuki Mizuno: hahahaha…thank you but I would hardly call myself a genius. Thank you!

Keybordist: wow! Thank you so much! Now I'm even more inspired to write!

death is waiting: I'm glad you think so too! Thanks for waiting!

animefreak: thanks!


	5. Yuki's Rage

Prince Yuki

Chapter 5:

Yuki walked briskly along the hall, searching for a certain someone when she heard something the new fan club members were whispering to each other. They didn't see him from behind and they were snickering rather loudly.

"Ne, ne, did you hear about Hanajima, Saki?"

"That she seduced our dearly beloved prince?"

"Where'd you hear that one? Of course it's not true!"

"It isn't?"

"No, it isn't! First of all she's not pretty enough to seduce even a monkey!"

Yuki felt enraged as if he was just given a slap on the face. And to think that Hanajima-san was only a few feet away, with her back turned to them as she spoke to Honda-san and Uo-san. The insolence!

"And second of all, she's a witch! She probably put a love potion on Prince Yuki's drink or something."

"Or maybe she voodoos him! To make him do the things he does?"

"**SHE'S NOT A WITCH**!" shocked. Everyone was shocked. Everyone in the hall was staring at him, incredulous that the great Prince Yuki could sound so…violent.

Yuki realized this soon and blinked, not believing what he just did! He totally lost control of himself and yelled at the new members. They all stared at him with fear in their eyes, Honda-san was wide-eyed and Uo-san had her mouth open.

"Yuki-kun…" Tohru whispered with surprise, taken aback at Yuki's explosion.

Slowly, almost painfully, Hanajima turned to look upon him with parted lips. As if she just heard her name being called.

So ashamed was Yuki that he bowed his head and whispered low, "Gomen." Before he ran to the next hall, disappearing from sight.

Hana, Tohru and Arisa all wondered, like everyone else, what had gotten into the prince. He would never shout at anyone but earlier…he just bellowed at three of his new members! What was that all about?

Strange, Hana thought, the prince Yuki was acting stranger than normal ever since he came back. She wondered what caused it to happen

Kyou was sitting on the rooftop like always, after throwing away the pesky cats that kept following him around. He sighed, something strange was happening with that damned mouse and he couldn't figure out what. Ever since Yuki came back, he's been absorbed in his own little world. He couldn't understand. Wasn't he happy, now that he was back in Tohru's company? Wasn't he happy Tohru was paying more attention to him than before to make him feel better?

He sighed again. Everyone seemed to worry about the mouse. Shigure kept talking to Ayame about it but no one could figure out what was wrong with him. Even Tohru expressed her own worries but of course she hadn't had the chance to ask yet. She was too nervous about Kyou being jealous. Of course He was a bit insecure, after all Tohru was His girlfriend. But he had no doubt that Tohru would stay loyal to him. She would never do anything to hurt him. He knew that now.

"Kyou." He heard the familiar call and saw the shadow from behind him. He turned to scowl at him for intruding but was stopped when his fist connected with his face.

"Ow! What the—Baka nezumi! What do you think you're doing!"

Yuki stood icily, obviously seething. He covered his angry eyes with his bangs and shook with fury. "How could you?" he asked in a low voice.

"How could I what?" Kyou asked, completely forgetting his anger and becoming dumbfounded.

"You told Shigure, didn't you!" Yuki yelled, lifting his gaze to reveal malice in his eyes.

"I told what!" Kyou asked aggravated. He didn't know what the hell the baka nezumi was talking about at all.

"You told him about finding me in Hanajima's house, didn't you!" he accused. "Now Hatori told Akito!" he said furiously.

"I didn't tell nothing to no one!" he said.

"Liar!" Yuki bellowed.

"Shut up, you baka nezumi! Why would I tell that damned dog anything!" Kyou yelled back. Wordlessly, Yuki attacked. Kyou evaded almost all of his punches and kicks but was caught when Yuki kicked him at the side. Kyou was thrown to the railings of the roof deck, clutching his aching side.

"I trusted you with one thing!" Yuki said, stalking towards his prey.

"I'm telling you, I didn't tell anyone!" Kyou defended still.

"He didn't tell Shigure!" Yuki and Kyou both turned to the door to see Haru there. "I told Hatori." He declared.

"Haru?" Yuki asked.

"I didn't know—how to explain your strange behavior, Yuki…" Haru explained. "So I asked Hatori."

Yuki's fists turned white knuckled at his sides and he shook more with fury, "You could've just asked ME! And it was none of your business to begin with!" He said. Before anyone could say anything anymore, he passed Haru and ran down the stairs. "I won't be back tonight." He declared before vanishing from Haru's blank gaze.

He knew he hurt Yuki's pride. To sniff around on Yuki's personal life was an insult to the mouse and Haru knew that. And yet he didn't want to be left in the dark. Especially when it concerned Yuki of all people. He felt like Yuki was leaving him out of everything. Yuki was leaving him.

Hana watched as Motoko and her gang of Yuki fan club members ran away from her at the sight of her dempa with her blank expression. They have been threatening HER frequently ever since Yuki came back. She didn't know why but they kept telling her to keep away from him. Why would she want to stay beside the prince anyway? He was not one who belonged in her circle of friends. Everybody loved him; no one but Tohru and Uo-chan loves her. To stay beside the prince would just be bringing trouble to her. And as much as possible, she wanted to spend her years without trouble.

Speaking of which, Hana turned around to see a disturbed looking prince walking the halls. His lips were fixed into a deep frown and he stared down at the ground he walked upon in deep thought. Strange. Anger, she felt anger in his waves. Something displeasing must have happened. Was he unhappy about his cousin being the school doctor? It seems they don't get along well.

When Yuki caught sight of Hana staring intently at him, in front of him, he put up his usual smile; the one he used whenever he didn't feel like actually smiling. Something about Hana's stare made him feel queer all of a sudden. As if she didn't believe what he was saying; but he wasn't saying anything.

He didn't feel like talking much so he just passed her by, striding his way down the hall.

"Yuki." He froze. That was…the first time he had ever heard her say his name. Yuki, Yuki, Yuki, Yuki! He felt his heart suddenly lighten and he didn't even know how to describe it. He didn't know what to do, seeing as he felt his face grow hot.

"H-Hai?" he trembled. Why was he trembling?

"Don't ever smile at me like that again." She said. That was when he turned to her, completely startled.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't," she started in her blank, queer way. "Want to see your lies." She said.

Yuki stared at her for a moment, not knowing what to say. Again he felt naked before her. How? How could she see right through him? Was he that obvious? Of course not! He had mastered this art of façade ever since he was a child! And yet she saw right through to him! How!

"I-I…" he tried to create an excuse, apologize, say anything. But the words never came to him. He was just frozen in front of her.

"Ja ne." she bowed respectfully and passed him by.

"Hanajima-san." He uttered low, fearing his voice might tremble again.

"Hai?" Hana stopped but simply turned her head to him.

He turned to her fully with a real smile this time, "Would you like to go get cheesecakes with me?" he asked.

Hana turned back to the hall and answered, "You are…strange…for me." She walked away with that and left Yuki feeling happier than he should be, considering what just transpired between him and his cousins.

Yuki sighed as he neared Hanajima's house and saw the window with the lights on. Hanajima's window. He was in his rat form and smiled to himself, happy that he finally had the time to be with his master again. He climbed up the tree with the branch that reached over to the windowsill. When he got there, he saw that Hana had her back turned to him as she was staring in blank space again.

Perfect! He thought as he started to feel the same tingly feeling he got whenever he was just about to change back. Without hesitation, Yuki jumped to her, Poof! He turned into a boy again but not for long. As he landed behind the oblivious girl, he quickly wrapped his arms around her. Poof! And he was a mouse again!

Hana stiffened at the feeling of someone hugging her with the same wave as Yuki. She turned around calmly and was relieved, not that it was obvious, to see her pet Prince again. It seemed that whenever Prince decided to make his presence known to her, he would release a strange wave that enveloped her in a form of a hug. Only, the strange part was that she could swear she felt skin.

She let out a ghost of a smile and leaned down to pick up the happy mouse. "Prince-chan…where have you been? I've been worried." She said in her usual deadpan tone.

Prince just squeaked and hugged her thumb happily, delighted that he was back into Hana's care. He was back where he felt he actually belonged!

Review Responses:

Yuka Kitsune: Yes, I undestand. I couldn't update either. Thanks for the review!

Hiei's Kat: thank you! I'm flattered by the compliment and actually happy that someone cared how the authoress felt. Don't worry, even if you do ask me to update, I won't mind. I'm happy you think so.

tohru-honda14: thanks!

Keybordist: thank you, I'm glad you liked it.


	6. Rivals?

Prince Yuki

Chapter 6:

Kyou scrubbed his hair diligently as he left the bathroom, it was already night and he was just about to go to bed when he found Tohru standing in front of Yuki's room. She had a blank look, as if in deep thought and he instantly knew what it was all about.

"He's not there." Tohru's mind snapped back to reality and she turned to him, her hair flying with the swift movement.

She blushed and asked, "Eh? Souma-kun isn't here?"

Kyou passed her by, closing his eyes, not really wanting to see her so worked up about the damned nezumi. "Nope. That damned mouse's staying with a friend tonight."

"Oh." He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a disappointed Tohru. The jealousy inside him stirred but he ignored it. Tohru was just being her kind, caring self again.

"Oi!" he called. She turned to him expectantly and he hesitated for a while then said, "Why do you wanna talk to him so much anyway!"

"Demo, Kyou-kun, Souma-kun's been acting very strange lately! I wonder…if he hates me—"

"Baka!" Tohru felt Kyou put a hand on top of her head as a way to comfort her and she looked up at his frown of disapproval, "He could never hate you." Tohru blushed, flattered and hopeful. "And if he did, I'd pummel him to the ground!" he declared boldly. Tohru giggled, knowing it was an empty threat. It was only Kyou's way of expressing himself, and she loved his way.

Yuki watched contentedly as Hana slowly and gently brushed her curly black locks. Oh, how comforting it was to be in her room again, to bask in her presence once more and be the apple of her eyes once again. He was getting tired of her ignoring him all the time in school. But as Prince, he would always have her attention and her care.

He loved being Prince and loved being by her side! He was happiest when she was around. He knew it was sort of pathetic but, he couldn't help himself!

"Yuki..." Yuki felt himself tense and his fur stood on end. "…has been acting strangely for the past three days." Damn, she talked weird. Couldn't she just talk like other people? In a less frightening way? "He keeps asking me to buy cheesecakes with him. Strange."

_Mental note: stop asking her to go out, she doesn't like it._

"Prince, do you think he wants to be friends with me?" she asked.

_Of course, I do!_ He thought, wishing he could just tell her.

"He shouldn't." Yuki stared intently at her, trying to read her mind. "He shouldn't be friends with me. People will hate him." Yuki's eyes widened, the thought never occurring in his mind. "If they see me with him…they will hate him…and hate me more…" there she was again, hating herself, belittling herself because of all the things her mother says to her. It wasn't fair! She was so much better than what she thought of herself! And the more she thought of how bad she was, the worse she'll become. She shouldn't hurt herself like this!

"We don't belong together, Yuki and I. He is a prince, a night in shining armor." She put down her brush and stared at herself blankly, "I am a witch, an ugly despicable, curse."

Yuki rubbed against her hand and made her look at him with a gentle gaze, snapping her out of her depressing thoughts. She smiled like a ghost and said, "What mama says is true, Prince. Only Uo-chan and Tohru-kun ar foolish enough to love a curse like me. They are my everything." Yuki squeaked, standing on his hind legs and sniffing in the air, looking very queer. "Would you like to be part of my everything, Prince?"

He squeaked happily, "Then you shall be. As long as you'll be mine only."

_That won't be a problem_, Yuki thought happily.

Hana went to her closet and opened it, looking for her nightgown. "I have also thought of…Yuki's cousin." Yuki lifted his gaze to her, "He will be our new doctor from now on." Hatori. "He is…beautiful." **What!** Did he just hear what he heard! Did she just say what she said! This **had** to be a joke! Something has **got** to be wrong with his ears! She couldn't have said what he thought she just said! If she just said what he thought she just said then—"His waves are full of beautiful misery in silence." **NO WAY!**

He felt so betrayed as his eyes became animated with unshed tears and he thought; _Hana-chan how could youuuuuuuu!_

Meanwhile, Hatori was sitting in his room, thinking over what to report to Akito. Hanajima, Saki was a strange girl, completely opposite of Honda, Tohru. And yet, there was nothing between Yuki and her. So what could be the cause for Yuki's sudden behavior? It wasn't like Yuki to simply care for someone so soon. Even Tohru took some time before charming the mouse to be her friend. Now this? Hanajima wasn't even trying!

Although thoughts of Akito ran through his mind, something else bothered him. That girl: Hanajima. She had a strange power around her. It was liked Akito's power except weaker, subtler. She was a mystery, no one knew much about her. He doubted Tohru would be much help in this one. The girl was far too naïve to understand what he would ask her.

So, he guessed, he would be on his own upon analyzing the mysterious stranger. Come to think of it, she wasn't ugly at all. Once you take a good look on her, one could say she was very enchanting. The mystery around her, the empty gaze of indifference, the porcelain skin, the ladylike attitude; others would definitely find her attractive. W-Wait, what was he thinking! Beauty was only a point of view!

"Ha'ri-chan!" he was snapped out of his thoughts when he found Momiji at his door.

"Momiji."

"What are you so serious about?" Momiji asked cheerfully, taking a seat in front of him.

Hatori looked down at the child, thinking if he should say anything. "Hanajima…"

"Oh, her?" Momiji made his disdain obvious when he shivered. "She's so creepy!" he commented, remembering the times he met with her.

"On the contrary," Hatori said, delving again into his thoughts, "I think she's interesting."

Review Responses:

Daniel of Lorien: thanks! I'm glad you think so!

Keybordist: No, it's okay, really! I love to hear from you!

Hiei's Kat: I will, as long as I keep hearing from you, my friend! Thank you!

HanyouGirl24: Thank you, I'm glad you think so!

Yuka Kitsune: thank you for waiting!


	7. Hanajima

Prince Yuki

Chapter 7:

That day, Yuki was looking out into the vast expanse of the campus. Tomorrow would be the Zodiac festival. It was a little something the principal suddenly made up once he found out that Akito, a very rich person whose family learns in this school, liked the Chinese zodiac a lot. Feh! He was such a kiss up. And now, Yuki had to arrange a booth for their class. All this fussing about was going to eat up all of his time; the time he planned to spend nestled in Hana-chan's soft bed.

When he thought back on the phrase he used, he blushed. Not that that he meant anything by going to Hana-chan's bed, it was just—there was definitely nothing perverted about what he thought! He just thought he could sleep there tonight next to her. Oh that sounded even more perverted! No, stop! Stop!

"Souma-kun?" Yuki jerked his head away from the window as if his mind shot back from space to his body. He turned around and found himself looking up at a very concerned Tohru. He didn't even realize that class was over until now.

"Ah, H-Honda-san!" Yuki said, smiling his usual cold smile. "Do you need anything?"

"Ah—I-iie…" Tohru blushed, looking down at her shoes. "I was just…wondering if you'd like to walk with me home."

"Me? Where's Kyou?" Yuki asked, concerned. How could Kyou abandon Honda-san!

"Oh, he's sort of busy right now. Hatori-san wanted to talk to him."

"Hatori? Did he say why?" Yuki raised a delicate brow in suspicion. What was that dragon/sea horse up to? And how did it concern Kyou?

"Iie, he didn't say why." Tohru answered shaking her head in disappointment. Then she looked up at him with worry in her eyes, "Oh, but if I'm going to be a bother, I-I guess I can just walk home myself! I mean, I don't mean to burden you or anything, I just—"

"I'll go." Yuki cut in with a kind smile, "But first I'll have to make a few arrangements. Please wait for a moment, Honda-san." And with that Yuki stood to talk to the class vice-president. The idea of Honda-san walking alone all the way home didn't please Yuki one bit. Who knows what danger might be lurking somewhere? She might get in trouble! He wasn't willing to take that risk.

After advising the Vice-president to look after the class and take charge of the meeting, Yuki bowed politely and took his leave alongside Tohru. She smiled up at him, "Arigatou, Souma-kun. This is very kind of you."

Yuki laughed shortly and cocked his head to the side, the flattery making him blush lightly. "Iie, it's my pleasure. I wouldn't want Honda-san to get in trouble on the way home."

"Still, it's very kind of you." She smiled still.

Meanwhile, Hatori was in the clinic, brooding again while looking out into the window. The tall tree that grew beside his room provided a comfort as its branches gave him a nice shade. There was a knock on the door, and Hatori didn't turn, knowing it was Kyou. He was three minutes late, but what did he expect from the cat.

"Enter." He said.

He heard the door open but turned around quickly with a surprised look when someone, not Kyou, spoke, "Dr. Souma." He trained his sight on her, taking in her feminine and dark form. She had a tray in her hand and she bowed politely, "The Secretary wanted me to give you these. She says she'd like to meet you after classes."

"H-Hanajima-san." He idly spoke. His breathe, surprisingly, was taken away for some reason.

She walked into the clinic with soft footsteps, making no sound at all. She put down the tray on the table beside him and bowed her goodbye. But Hatori felt the intense and sudden urge to have her stay. "Hanajima-san!"

Calmly, Hana turned to him, craning her long pale neck. "Hai, Dr. Souma?"

What to say? He knew not what forced him to call to her. And yet, he still wanted her to stay. He had to think of something fast. "W-who is the Secretary again?"

At this, Hana turned to him fully and spoke softly, "Chiriko, Tenjho; tall, brunette, shapely body. A very attractive specimen for most men." Then she started being weird again, "Her waves give off Arrogance and Self-centeredness. Her waves also tell me she has a temperament but she hides it well. Very well indeed. She is flamboyant and full of desire… "

The moment she started being weird was the moment Hatori took the time to stare intently at her, looking for something; though he didn't know what. When she was finished, Hatori nodded in understanding. Of course he knew the Secretary. She was the first one to have bawled over him ever since he **came** to this school.

"I see. Thank you, Hanajima-san." When she bowed and turned around to leave, he remembered something. "Ah, Hanajima-san."

"Hai?" she turned to him again.

"Will you be going to the festival tomorrow?" he asked.

"Hai. Will you?" she asked in her monotone voice as if she was asking him just to be polite.

He hadn't expected her to ask him that and found himself without an answer. Tomorrow he would have to check up on Kisa, who just had the chicken pox. So he wasn't sure if he would make it. "I'm…not sure."

"I see…" she said. She walked to the door but stopped before stepping out of his domain. "Dr. Souma." Hatori looked at her, her back turned to him. "The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness…also keep out the joy."

Hatori felt frozen! His heart stopped beating! His head started swerving! How did she know! What was this! This had to be some kind of sorcery! What the hell! Memories of Kanna kept running through his head and his heart felt like it would burst. Instinctively, he grabbed at his chest, as if holding onto his heart. He didn't know what to say, he was at a loss of words.

He stared at her incredulously, how could she have known? After a long pause, Hanajima nodded and said, "Have a nice day…" and with that, she left. As she closed the door to the clinic, she caught sight of two people walking out of the school. She went closer to the window and found herself staring down at Tohru and Yuki, who were smiling at each other as they spoke.

Ah, the sweet picture of the princess alongside her prince. Tohru was happy again, now that Yuki was back. She half-wondered where Souma, Kyou was but didn't think much on it. Somehow, something kept nagging in her mind. What was it? Disappointment? But why? It was then that Hana realized, this was the first time Yuki didn't ask her to buy cheesecakes with him.

Yuki had been asking her out for a week now, and she had never given him an answer. Was the prince giving up? _Well, it is about time._ She thought. But she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling inside of her. Was she actually sad? How could she feel sad? Was he giving up? Or did he simply forget? "Souma…kun…."

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Hiei's Kat: Of course you are my friend! I love to hear from you! You've read my mind, how did you know?

BlackPanther17: Then, I'm very honored to have heard a praise from you! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Caramel: I'm glad you think so. I agree, people should make more Hanajima romance stories.

Keybordist: Hmmm, SECRET! Thanks for reviewing!

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flyingcat inc.: May I ask what a yami is? Thanks for waiting!

Alex: thank you for waiting!


	8. Zodiac Festival

Prince Yuki

Chapter 8:

Hana stared down at Prince, sleeping soundly in her bed beside her. All night long, she had been thinking of strange thoughts and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. Yuki. Yuki. Yuki, Yuki, Yuki! Every single thing in her thoughts consisted of Yuki Souma! It was not obvious, physically, but it was eating her inside. Why couldn't she stop thinking of Souma, Yuki!

What did it matter to her that Yuki didn't ask her earlier what he had been asking her consecutively for a week now? Why did it bother her so much? It wasn't supposed to bother her this much! Yuki has his life, his secrets, his privacy! So why was she—dare she think it, irritated, at the thought that Yuki Souma had actually forgotten about her at the mere sight of her best friend, Tohru!

She was a bad friend! She should be happy for Tohru-chan and yet, look at her now! She was—jealous?… At the realization that what she felt was actual jealousy, her heart broke! How could she! How could she do this to Tohru-chan! Hana tore her gaze away from Prince and shut her eyes tight, ashamed of herself and completely disgusted!

She was a devil! How could she be jealous of Tohru just because of Yuki Souma's attention! She was such a bad person! She didn't deserve a friend like Tohru! She didn't deserve anything she was given! A curse doesn't deserve anything! Not even freedom from life itself!

Suddenly, she felt two strong arms wrap tightly around her body, pulling her closer to come in contact with a firm body. She instantly stiffened and turned quickly, only to see Prince staring up at her. That was strange. Prince was strange. His waves were so strong that she actually thought she felt him hug her. That was what she loved most about Prince. He was strange; like her. And he loved her, cared for her. She knew she didn't deserve him either.

"Prince-chan…" she didn't want him to worry, seeing as he cocked his head to the side with curiosity. "Should I attend the Zodiac Festival?"

Immediately, Prince nodded. "Don't you think I will only ruin their celebration?" Prince violently shook his head no! Hana smiled with content, Prince was far too good to her. If he were a human, she would never have believed such kindness from him. But since he was an animal, she could live in her fantasy and dream that he actually **did** answer her questions instead of simply doing tricks.

She lay down on her bed and looked at him with a content and blank stare. "Do you love me, Prince-chan?" she asked.

Prince simply stood there, almost as if thinking it over. Hana felt like laughing inside, of course the mouse wouldn't answer. She ruffled the top of his head with her index finger and closed her eyes, giving in to rest.

When Yuki was sure she was finally asleep, as if on cue, he turned into a human. He stared down at her intently, not knowing what possessed Hana to say something so…not like her. But what puzzled him more was that…did he love her? She asked him that and never expected an answer. Yuki never expected the question so he never had an answer. But now that she asked him…did he? **Was** he in love with Saki Hanajima?

Well, he felt strongly about her, sure. But…love? All he knew about love was what Honda-san had taught him. She was his first love. But she broke his heart when she said she loved Kyou more. Would it be the same to Hana? Would she love somebody else more than she loved Yuki?

That next day, the school was busy with their own booths. The field for the festival was ready and bustling. Students and teachers alike were walking around and examining booths. Yuki stared up at the banner in their booth, a proud glint in his eyes. His classmates had actually managed to do something fairly decent without him!

It was a Soul Mate booth. At the booth, they were selling little message flasks with the head of the zodiac as a cork. Of course, the flasks had the name of a student on a rolled piece of paper inside. And they explained that whoever it was that you got, that student would be your 'soulmate'. Of course, Yuki knew that a lot of boys and girls were buying the flasks in hopes of getting his name. He sighed, thankfully, his classmates made a rule to sell only one flask per student.

"Souma-kun." He turned to his side to see Tohru walking alongside Kyou towards him. Kyou had a stubborn look to his face with his hands folded behind his head while Tohru looked excited and had her trademark smile bright and ready.

"Honda-san." He acknowledged with a small smile.

"What do you think of the booth?" she asked.

Yuki evaluated it before smiling, "They did a good job, Honda-san." With the compliment, Tohru smiled brighter.

"I'm glad you think so! Hana-chan and Uo chan worked hard to write all of the students' names in those little pieces of paper. Oh, why don't you buy one! You might know who your soul mate will be!" she enthusiastically invited.

"Ah," Yuki smiled. He really didn't want to, since he didn't believe in this. And besides, it would never be Tohru anyway, so what did it matter? But just to make Honda-san happy, Yuki agreed. "Hai." He bought one with the head of a mouse as a cork and put it in his pocket. He would open that later.

Tohru was happy with that and turned to Kyou, "Kyou-kun, why don't you buy one too?" she invited.

Kyou scoffed and turned away, "I don't need no freagin' bottle to tell me who I'm gonna be happy with!" but when Tohru faltered, her smile slowly fading, Kyou's face softened and he said gently, "I'm already happy with you."

Tohru blushed, wide-eyed and flattered. Shying away, she turned her eyes to the ground and concentrated on it. Yuki tore his eyes from the scene, feeling his stomach churn with jealousy. It was for the best, he knew. Stepping back to save Kyou's soul from darkness. It was his decision to do so…but why was he the one left miserable in the darkness, standing on the same ground.

Later that day, Hatori slowly and carefully walked into the overcrowded field. He berated himself for actually coming right after going to Kisa's. He didn't want Hanajima to think he was too eager to come, but he also didn't want her to think he wouldn't come. He was anxious, he knew. But what made him anxious in the first place wasn't even anywhere in sight! Where was she?

"Souma-san!" a husky feminine voice called out. He turned around, suppressing a groan as he expected to see no one else but the Secretary. She looked fairly young, had long brown hair curled beautifully and falling lightly over her shoulders. She wore a velvet red coat and sleek black skirt that reached her knees and had slits at the sides. She had big green eyes and luscious lips and had a smile on her face. "I'm so glad you came!" she said, coming up to him.

"Hai, I decided to come." He said blankly at the evidently interested woman.

"Well, have you been to any booths lately? I'm very interested about the marriage booth the juniors made!" she said with a coy smile but seemed innocent enough.

"What did the seniors make?" he asked, wanting to grasp on anything related to his source of anxiety.

"Oh, the seniors!" she started to grab something out of the pocket of her coat and soon emerged with a flask with a letter inside and the head of a dragon as a cork. "I bought one for you, Souma-san! It's a Soul Mate bottle. You were born in the year of the dragon right?"

"Hai. Arigatou." He took the flask and looked at it. "What is it for?" he asked after a while.

"It has the name of your soul mate in it, of course!" she smiled prettily, in hopes that he would get her name and start to make a move. Either he was gay or really timid, she thought. That was the only way a guy could ever **not** be interested in her. "Open it!" she suggested excitedly.

Hatori looked at her then to the flask, deep in thought. "Maybe later." And with that, he walked away, giving no heed to the pout the Secretary made. He made his way through the hoards of boys and girls excitedly showing their little cliques what they got or discovered.

He soon stopped, not finding who he was looking for. Perhaps it would be better if he just left? Come to think of it, all he was doing was just going to a pointless festival. So, why would she care if he were there? It wasn't that important.

He turned to leave but was surprised and relieved to see, from a distance, Hanajima with her friends Uotani and Tohru. She was giving Tohru a flask with a dog's head for a cork; Tohru smiled and hugged her friend tightly. He determined himself and walked over to them.

Uo was first to see him and she smiled up at the handsome doctor. "Yo!" she greeted, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Hatori-san!" Tohru cheerfully called, "I didn't think you'd come!"

Hatori waited for Hanajima's reaction but what he got was a polite bow and a blank stare. He nodded to them, "Hai. I decided to watch the festivities."

"Oh, how is Kisa-chan?" Tohru asked with concern.

"She's…alright, though I had to find a way to restrain her from scratching." He answered icily, looking to no one else but the disinterested Hanajima. For a while, Tohru and Uo had been talking to him, Hanajima had simply stayed out of the conversation. But when Uo had to go help in their booth and Tohru had to go buy Momiji some food, Hanajima was left to be with him.

They were alone and standing in the crowd at a fair distance. Both were silent, contrary to the people around them. He looked calm and placid like he always did but inside, he was scrambling for something to say. It was a long while until Hanajima spoke, "Your walls have fallen?"

Her voice was low and, to Hatori, the most seductive tone he had ever heard. It was as if she was an enchantress who was prying into his mind, into the very recesses of his heart. He knew he had to answer soon but he took his time, deciding upon the best answer to give. "More like…I've surrendered my castle."

As a sign of mild interest, Hanajima cocked her head to the side but decided it was rude to pry on other's business. "I see." But then she sensed something and pointed at his pocket, "Won't you open it?"

"Are you curious?" he asked with a raised brow as if it was playful teasing.

After weighing her words, Hanajima looked up at him, straight in the eyes. "Are you?"

Meanwhile, Yuki was fingering his bottle. He didn't believe in these things since the hands that wrote them were just kids but at the same time, it made him curious. Whoever's name was in there could actually be his soul mate. But then again, it could be wrong. Finally tired of puzzling over it, Yuki took out the glass to stare at it. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Slowly, he took off the cork and put it in his pocket. He took out the letter and unfolded it, his eyes widening in disbelief!

Hatori stared down at the name in the paper, his hands shaking almost obviously. The one name that all of a sudden made his heart stop.

Hanajima, Saki 

Yuki's hand felt numb and the letter fell to the ground, there the name of his soulmate, his love was revealed…

Honda, Tohru 

Review Responses:

Doctor Kiba: haha, yes I can't remember the saying either! Thank you for waiting!

Keybordist: thank you, I try. Thanks for waiting!

Daniel of Lorien: I'll do my best to make it longer, promise!

Animefreak: sorry I haven't updated. I was busy with my alter ego. Hehe…

Yuka Kitsune: It seems that way! Thanks for waiting!

Hiei's Kat: haha! Yes, it would! I'll keep that in mind! Thanks for waiting! My alter ego needed some more time!


	9. Wedding

Chapter 9:

Hana watched as the doctor with beautiful waves trembled at the name before him. She didn't know what it was but she sensed a strange mixture of waves emitting from him. It was a mix of nervousness, fear and excitement. Whoever it was, it must be someone that pleases him.

Hatori's eyes came up to meet hers and she tried hard to discern what he was silently saying. She felt as if she almost had it when…

"Hana-chan!" they both turned to Tohru who was coming forward, a happy Momiji by her side. Only her voice had snapped the two out of their trance. As Tohru stopped in front of Hana, she hugged her friend tightly, making Hana stiffen upon contact. "I kept thinking about the soul mate bottle you gave me, and so I decided to buy you one too!"

She took out a soul mate bottle from her pocket with the head of a ram for a cork. She gave it to Hanajima, but Hanajima gave it back. "Gomena, Tohru-kun." She said.

Tohru looked down at the bottle with concern, "What's wrong, Hana-chan?"

Hana gave her friend a comforting smile and said, "I don't believe in this. I wrote it, remember?"

Hatori watched as Tohru insisted and Hana kept pushing it back into her hands and noticed that Momiji was up to something. He also noticed that Yuki was absently walking towards them along with Uotani who came back from the booth. Yuki and Uo were simply talking.

When the two arrived, Momiji pounced, revealing a pair of handcuffs from behind him. He aimed for Yuki and Tohru, remembering what Tohru found out when she opened her bottle.

It turned out, Tohru's soulmate was, to her surprise…

_Souma, Yuki._

And so, Momiji devised a plan where Tohru and Yuki would realize their love for each other at the marriage booth! When he heard the light 'chink' of the cuffs, he smiled triumphantly. But when he finally stepped back to look at his work, his face fell.

Instead of chaining Tohru's wrist to Yuki's, he chained the creepy Hanajima to the Prince! "Oh no." he whispered low. He screwed up!

Tohru, Uotani, Hanajima and Yuki all looked down at the cuffs and stared at Momiij. "Momiji…what is…this?" Yuki asked.

When Momiji finally came back from his stupor, the rabbit smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, ehehehe… gomen?"

Uotani started laughing hysterically and everyone turned to her. "Oh my God! You two have to get married!" she exclaimed.

"W-What!" Yuki asked with a flustered look. Hana seemed unaffected but Tohru had an unreadable expression. The paper said Yuki was her soul mate. Should she believe it?

"You can't take it off since the key to the cuffs is in the marriage booth! But you can't get the key unless you two get married!" Uotani explained further then laughed again, clutching her stomach.

Yuki threw an accusing glare Momiji's way and Hatori lightly tapped the mischievous rabbit on the head. "Come, Momiji, I'll take you home." Hatori said. He didn't want to stay for such an event and besides, the rabbit's father told Hatori to have Momiji home by eight.

With one last glance at Hanajima and Yuki, he turned and left.

Before leaving, Momiji kept apologizing as Yuki steamed quietly like a pot. What Momiji did was completely uncalled for and totally embarrassing! What would Hana think? He didn't want to force her to marry him! Yuki turned to see what Hana would think, only to see her looking down at the cuffs with empty eyes.

Sensing his eyes on her, Hana looked up to stare back at the beautiful Prince. His expression was that of concern. For her? Strange.

"Should we…go?" she asked, breaking the silence.

At that, Yuki smiled apologetically, cocking his head to the side. "I guess we have no other choice, Hanajima-san."

Before the two could start walking, Tohru spoke in a rush, "Oh, I-I just remembered; I have to go!"

Yuki looked at her curiously and Uotani was the one to speak. "Tohru, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing, I just—gotta go, see you all later!" with that, she faked a bright smile and turned on her heels. She left in a hurry, leaving everyone to wonder what had Tohru so wound up.

Tohru didn't know what it was that made her feel so strange… the soul mate bottle said it was Yuki with whom she'll be happy with forever. So why was she with Kyou? But no, she shouldn't believe in things like this! She was already happy with Kyou-kun and vise versa! But…deep inside she still wondered, what would have happened if I chose Yuki instead?

Hana turned to Uo and the tomboyish girl shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere. I want to see this." She declared cheerfully as if enjoying their dreaded union. Or, so she thought.

"Alright." Was Hana's lifeless answer as they continued to walk towards the marriage booth. But just as they neared, Yuki saw a shop to the left that was selling some accessories and a pair caught his eyes. He turned to Hana, catching her attention. She raised an interested brow as Yuki stopped walking… she stopped as well.

"Hanajima-san, would you mind if I bought something first?" Hanajima's mouth parted as she considered his polite question. Yes, this was the prince she knew. The gentleman that everybody loved and idolized. Silently, she nodded. Yuki smiled and led them both to the shop. As he peered at the glass, he saw what he was looking for.

Hana noticed the girl in the counter was biting her lower lip, looking anxiously to Yuki. It seemed that she was waiting for him to talk to her. She looked at Yuki, of course the prince was attractive. But she didn't really give much notice to it. Beauty was only a point of view, as she believed it. She turned back to staring into space; thinking of the waves she'd been feeling all day.

Yuki smiled and looked up to the girl behind the counter, she gasped in delight and covered her mouth before she could squeal. "How much for the rings?" he asked.

Hana quickly turned to him and so did Uotani. The blonde's face was that of surprise and her jaw dropped to the ground.

"Eh?" the girl behind the counter asked. Yuki kindly smiled, knowing the girl was slow and lengthening his patience.

"I'd like to buy that silver pair over there." He kindly said.

The girl blushed then turned to Hanajima who was staring lifelessly at the incredibly irresistible boy. She then turned to peer at Uotani who had a baffled and completely awe struck expression on her face. Why was Yuki-san hanging around with the witch and the Yankee?

Carefully and cheerfully, the girl smiled and made the transaction with Yuki. Yuki was content to have gotten what he wanted and smiled down at Hanajima, seeing that she was looking straight up at him with untrusting eyes.

"Let's go, shall we?" he asked.

When they finally arrived at the Marriage booth, the 'priest' guy became confused. He didn't know if he should either be happy to see the oh-so-loved Yuki or be terrified to be in the presence of the spooky Hanajima.

"H-how'd you end up getting cuffed?" he dared ask the couple.

"It's a long story." Yuki smiled kindly, but inside he just didn't want to tell the guy. Why did everybody have to be so nosy?

"Can we have the keys now?" was Hana's demure and toneless voice.

The guy pretending to be a priest stiffened at the sound of her voice but tried to smile, "G-Gomen. I can't give you the keys unless you two get married."

Suddenly, to the 'priest's' horror, Hana's dempa revealed itself and pointed at his direction! Her eyes darkened even more like a devil and he was just about to run for his life when—

"It's alright, Hanajima-san." They all turned to the smiling Yuki and he continued, "I don't mind being married to you for the night." They didn't know how true that statement was.

Hana stared at him for a while, trying to contemplate his waves. Thankfully, her dempa fell back into the thick mass of her braided hair like it was never even there and the 'priest' sighed of relief.

As the ceremony went on, Hana sneaked a few peaks in Yuki's direction. Why was he being so kind to her? Did he want something? But what could a prince want from a witch? A prince was supposed to have everything, right?

After they were officially married by the power invested upon a fake priest, the boy reminded them, "Now don't worry. This marriage thing is only for the night. After this everything can go back to normal, 'k?"

Hana nodded and Yuki did the same. When the boy was reassured that Hana wouldn't attack him, he reached over and took the cuffs off. Hana exited the tent first, outside Uotani was waiting for her.

Uo smirked, "How was it?" she asked, arms crossed in front of her.

"It was…fine." Hana answered. But before they could go, Yuki had called to her. They stopped and turned around to see Yuki coming closer. The dim light from inside the tent illuminated his already perfect features.

To the girls' surprise, Yuki took Hana's hands in his. Hana stiffened at the contact and her eyes widened considerably. Yuki smiled at her surprised reaction and said, "I just wanted to give you this, since we're married and all." And with that, Yuki slipped the silver band from earlier around her ring finger. It was then that the moonlight glistened upon the two silver bands around Hana's and Yuki's ring fingers.

It was a symbol of their union. Hana was rendered immobile. What did Yuki Souma think he was doing?

"Souma…why?" was all she could say.

Yuki smiled charmingly, "I want you to always remember this day as the day we got married." No one spoke until Yuki continued, "Now that we're here though, we might as well go to the cheesecake stand, ne?"

Hana couldn't help but smirk. Yuki would always be an enigma to her. She would never be able to understand what goes on through his mind. "Alright." She said.

"Great!" Yuki said happily. Finally, Hana had said yes to him. With that, he pulled her along to the cheesecake stand, not even minding that people were staring at their entwined fingers.

Uotani stood alone in the crowd. They had left her. Now that they were married, and Tohru was busy, they left her. She was all alone in a see of strangers with no one to hold on to. But then she shrugged, "Ng, it's only for the night anyway." She waved the two away and turned to go to the bump cars. "Let the 'adults' have fun for a change." She muttered to herself.

Review Responses:

Caramel: thanks for waiting!

Keybordist: thank you for being patient with me!

Yuka Kitsune: I'm glad you liked it, thank you very much!

Unchained3011: thanks for waiting hope you liked it!

Hiei's Kat : haha! Thanks! Currently, she's winning the battle. But I am going to win the war!

KyoLover : Of course it's a Yulo/Hana/Hatori and Kyou/Tohru! I don't like Yuki with Tohru either, hehe…

Different Child: thank you so much for being so patient with me!


	10. Someone Else

Chapter 10:

Yuki sat in his room with the happiest, lightest feeling he had ever experienced. Never had he felt so triumphant and yet so serene at the same time. The time he spent with Hana at the cheesecake stand was…unforgettable! Hana had been smiling along with him the whole time, Yuki finally felt like she opened up a part of herself to him. Not prince but him! He actually had the chance to make her laugh, although it was more of a chuckle.

Well, the important thing was that Hana and he had gotten along marvelously on that one night, the same night he got married to her. They didn't care of what other people thought; the simple fact that they were married for the night made their time so much more comfortable. He looked down at the hand that held the brush delicately to the canvas, the silver band still glimmering.

Yuki had a secret. A secret that no one else knows of except for Shigure and Akito; Yuki was an artist. He was an all around Picasso but he didn't want anyone else to know. He was excellent, but he never trained or learned how. He was an idiot-savant. He hated the fact that he was an idiot-savant. It just showed him how much more of a free loader he was! How spoiled he truly was! It disgusted him. But Shigure wanted Yuki to keep on painting.

For some reason, the dog was encouraging and supportive towards his unwanted gift. He couldn't understand but all year long, Shigure would give him paints, canvases, and all other art materials. He rarely used any of them. Sometimes he did, just to see if he was still an idiot-savant. But to his dismay, he still was.

But now it seemed like all of that has changed. He didn't even mind the fact that he was painting! All he knew was that he felt like painting! He paused when his glimmering ring led his eyes to stray towards the canvas and he turned beat red. In front of him was a sketch of a beautiful Hanajima with her hair flowing down to its full length. She held herself close. She looked much like the way she did when she was asleep and Yuki would watch over her, wondering what she was dreaming about.

The shoji door slid open and a face peered in. "Yuki-ku—" before Shigure could continue putting Yuki's name into a song, "PANG!" a thick book hit him square on the face. Yuki's hand was still outstretched from the action of throwing the nearest thing at the invading inu.

His eyebrow twitched with annoyance and he quickly, before Shigure could recover, kicked the canvas and brush and everything else into his open cabinet where he hid everything he held dear.

"Get out!" Yuki demanded sternly as the book slid from Shigure's frozen figure. When the book fell, it revealed Shigure's swirly eyes and bleeding nose.

Quickly, Shigure snatched a Band-Aid from behind him (it magically appeared) and put it over his broken nose. "Ma, ma…is that anyway to treat your elders?"

Glad that the dog didn't see what he was doing, Yuki calmed himself and looked icily at the annoying pervert. "What do you want?"

"Well, I was just going to tell you that it was raining outside." Shigure gestured to the window. Yuki peered outside, indeed it was raining. But he didn't see anything important about that.

He looked back to Shigure, "And?"

"Well, what about you precious little garden?" he asked.

At that, Yuki's eyes widened! OH NO! HIS SECRET GARDEN! He had completely forgotten about it! With one swift motion he pushed Shigure out of the way and ran down the stairs. He ignored Shigure's whining but stopped when,

"Souma-kun!" he turned around to stare at Tohru, who had a large plastic cover in her hands and a raindcoat over her body. She looked just as surprised to see him. It seemed that they both realized about the garden at the same time. Yuki nodded in understanding and took the large plastic cover. They both ran to the secret garden, Yuki didn't even care that he was sopping wet. All he had in mind was his Secret Garden.

The rain was getting stronger, Tohru held down her end and so did Yuki. The wind was harsh and had no mercy, Yuki was just glad they got to the Garden in time. But as Yuki calmed into his spot, he looked at Honda-san and found that she was like him; sopping wet.

"Honda-san!" he called. Tohru looked at him with concern. "You don't have to do this! Go home or you'll get sick!" he said. No matter what happened, Honda-san was still dear to Yuki and to think that she would hold out in the rain just because of him was frightfully appalling. Who knows what sickness she might derive from this rain?

"Iie!" she shook her head violently. "The Secret Garden is important to Souma-kun so it's important to me too! I won't leave until I'm sure that our garden is safe!" Tohru declared through the noisy and violent spattering of the rain. Yuki stared at her in disbelief. No matter what, Tohru would always be able to say and do the right things to make him and everyone else melt. She had complete power over them. Especially him.

Meanwhile, Shigure peered inside, looking for anything at all. Yuki's room was so…clean, he almost had to shield his eyes! No man's room could ever be this clean! Well except for Hatori, but Ha'ri was a doctor! He's supposed to be clean! Yuki was like…too perfect to be true. School materials to the left, house stuff to the right. Where were all his art materials? It had to be somewhere! Shigure had spent a lot of money to buy Yuki his art materials, and to think that the mouse would just throw it away really was disappointing.

It was then that he noticed something out of place. The cabinet was open. Since when does Yuki leave his cabinet open? He slowly crept towards the cabinet, his interest heightened.

He quirked a brow and a smirk crossed his handsome features at the sight. So, Yuki **has** been practicing after all! Interesting. Well he portrayed the model very well. Suddenly, the hentai inside of him kicked in and he started fantasizing about another story! He quickly brightened and turned to go to his office. It would be about a boy who loved to paint a girl whom everyone hated! Marvelous! He went on to the hall, to go back to his studies so he could type this story that just arrived in his mind. It was sure to be a hit! Not to mention, the extremely passionate limes and lemons he was going to write. Oh how wonderful!

"BANG!" without him knowing it, Kyou had already punched him upside the head. Shigure stayed in that position for a while, holding onto the sore part of his abused cranium. "What are you up to now, you hentai?" Kyou said. Shigure had that look again, the look of a hentai with a plot. Kyou knew it all too well and didn't like it one bit.

"Why Kyou-kun, I'm hurt!" Shigure said, clutching his heart painfully with a pathetic look.

"You better be!" Kyou retorted, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Why must you always resort to violence? And why must you always accuse me of being mischievous?"

"You're not mischievous, you damn dog! You're a freakin' perv! If you dare touch one hair on Tohru's head, I'll—"

"Maa, maa, Why would I do such a thing?" Shigure said, calming down the irate and suspicous cat. "Tohru-chan is my innocent little flower! I would **never** do anything to harm her!" he proclaimed. With that he happily stepped into his office, but before he closed the door, "I can have her _after_ you two break up."

"WHAT THE FU—"

The next day, Yuki was walking along the campus grounds, the swarm of attractive fan club members trying to speak to him more through questions about the upcoming Halloween Ball. He answered them curtly and politely, he didn't mind the attention much since he was in such a good mood. He didn't know why though but it was a relief from all the days he'd been isolated in his own apathy.

It was then that he saw them, Uotani and Hanajima walking the opposite way. As they passed by each other, Yuki looked at Hana and Hana looked at him. For a second, they held each other's gaze. Then, without warning, Yuki flashed that killer smile of his that made every single girl around him swooning.

And to Yuki's delight, Hana returned the smile, except it was fainter. The others could barely see it, but he could. And that was all that mattered to him. When their groups passed each other, Yuki looked back at Hana who looked back at him.

Yuki waved goodbye seeing as she was going home. Much to Yuki's satisfaction, Hana smiled more visibly this time. The girls around him seethed with jealousy but nether of the two seemed to care. The strong breeze blew, making Hana's hair fly out of place. She lifted her hand to brush the strands of hair back behind her ear and that was when he saw it. It glimmered under the bright rays of the sun and reflected it's light upon his shining eyes.

Their wedding rings; the symbol of their union.

Hana turned from the sight of the retreating Yuki. She had asked him earlier if she would mind walking her home, a feat on its own for Hana. Ever since the Prince had shown her kindness, she was shown a new side of Yuki Souma. The time they spent together that night at the Zodiac Festival had been…nothing but strange. He spoke eloquently with the deepest meanings, he made her laugh and smile, and he showed her that not all popular people were as shallow as they seemed. He changed her mood from monotony to exuberance and for once, she wasn't scared of feeling that way.

She had a sense of security when around him; as if she actually deserved what he gave her, as if she wasn't doing anything wrong, as if she **couldn't** do anything wrong. It was a wonderful feeling…and she couldn't even bring herself to hating him for it.

But as she lifted her eyes, she stopped at a familiar face. He looked down at her with a passive face, his stance was calm but his eyes burned into her with menace. She sensed jealousy. Was he jealous? Perhaps. She stared up at him, her empty eyes meeting his burning ones.

"May I speak with you alone?" he calmly and politely asked, his rage was perfectly hidden.

Uotani looked from the Souma to Hana who looked back at her with an approving nod. She hesitated before leaving the two alone and told Hana she would wait at the gate.

"No need, I'll walk her home." He said to Uo icily, obviously wanting to rid of her. Uo sensed trouble and looked to Hana for a sign to come and help. But Hana simply looked at her blankly.

"Take care." Hana said to her. And with a doubtful stare at the two, she left. He turned to stare down at her again, this time, calming only a little. She looked up at him, not even bothering to analyze the situation for she felt that he was no threat at all. "What is it that you want from me…Souma, Haru?"

Review Responses:

daruma: thanks for waiting!

BlackPanther17: thanks for understanding, this is just an experiment fic by the way. I'm just trying out the new pairings. Thanks for waiting!

Daniel of Lorien: Thank you! Illegally old, hahaha! That made me laugh! Hahaha!

KyoLover: Sorry if I don't put enough Kyouru here, I'm just not that big of a fan. But I'll do my best to make it better!

Unchained3011: oh, Tohru, the ever so innocent one. I wish I were as lucky.

Caramel : thanks!

Alex: thanks!

Matron Raenee: thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

Yuka Kitsune: I'm glad you liked the pairing! Sorry I made you wait so long!


	11. Hana

Chapter 11:

"What is it that you want from me…Souma, Haru?"

"Ah…" Haru said, with a bored expression. He looked her in the eyes, long and hard, trying to see into those mysterious dark abysses. "Tohru's planning a surprise birthday party for Shigure-san on the 19th. She wants to know if you'll be coming."

Hana cocked her head to the side with interest but her face remained impassive. "Shigure-san will have his birthday this month?" her voice never wavered, never changed.

"Hai."

A long while of silence, consideration on Hana's part and observation on Haru's. She wasn't special, she was nothing special. She was even lower than normal. She was nothing like Tohru. Haru understood why Yuki would feel anything for Tohru. Tohru was a simple girl with simple wants. She was happy and content and that made everyone else feel happy and content about themselves.

Hanajima; she was so…not Tohru! Why would Yuki suddenly take interest in her? She wasn't pretty, she wasn't smart, and she wasn't even that friendly? What was wrong with Yuki?

"Alright, though I doubt me being there will make any difference…" she said in a monotone way.

"Haru." Hana turned and Haru looked up to see who had called him. It was, to Hana's inconspicuous delight, Dr. Souma, Hatori. The man with beautiful waves. He was carrying his organizer and a few files in one arm and his other hand in his pocket. He wore what he always wore, his white coat.

Hatori was a bit taken back at the sight of Haru and Hana conversing. What were they talking about? Did it concern Yuki? Was it something he should know about?

Hana turned to face him fully and bowed respectfully, snapping Hatori out of his train of thoughts.

"We were just talking about the surprise party for Shigure-san." Haru said, seeing the question in Hatori's eyes.

"Are you going?" Hanajima asked out of the blue.

Hatori looked at her with great consideration. He was going to be busy for a while, seeing as there was a family member that caught dengue from school yesterday and then Akito was complaining about his medicines lately. Though the thought of getting away from it all and making plans to speak more to Hanaji—other people was a bit enticing. He weighed his options carefully.

"Tohru invited Ayame-san as well." Haru added.

"I'll be there."

Haru walked Hana home in silence no one spoke but then again no one cared to speak. They were happy with their own world, up until Hana turned to see him turning down the wrong lane. "Souma-san." Haru looked at her lifelessly. "Where are you going?"

"To your house."

"My house is this way." She said, pointing to the white house up ahead. Haru took a good, hard look on it and then said,

"Ah…"

They got to the porch and out of her sleeve, Hana took out the key for the house. Her mother doesn't bother opening the door for her so she went and got a duplicate. She opened the door and went inside. "Are you coming in?" she asked out of politeness. If she wasn't polite and people would be displeased of her, her mother will punish her for it.

Haru looked up from his deep thoughts and finally asked the question he's been asking himself this whole time. "Are you and Yuki together?"

Hana looked at him with slightly widened eyes. No one had ever asked her that before. No one had even dared to think of that before. Who would ever think that Yuki would like her? Her of all people? "No."

Haru looked just as surprised but his face suddenly turned back into a blank façade. "I see." That fact made him relieved, but he wasn't comforted enough. He still didn't know why Yuki gave so much attention to her and poured all of his time staring at her from across the room.

He saw it before when he was walking down the hall, getting sent to the principal for whirling the P.E. teacher around the room when he called Haru a baka. Yuki was there, scribbling little nothings in his notebook while the teacher spoke, his cheek cupped in one hand that supported his beautiful face. He was staring but not outside like he always used to. He was staring far across the room, at the very opposite of his seat at the window. At Hanajima who was staring at something on her hand and it seemed to make Yuki's eyes sparkle with hidden happiness. It bugged the hell out of him that he turned black at the principal and got suspended for three days.

He never did see the principal look at him the same way again. That bite mark must have hurt on his—

Without him noticing, Hanajima had already closed the door. She turned to go to her room but stopped when the doorbell rang. She opened the door and found Haru there, looking as blank as ever. "Uh…can you tell me which way to the subway?"

"You know, not a lot of people give enough importance to toilet paper. What is it made of? No one knows really. No one except those who care. It's always there but no one understands its needs and wants. Who would care about a simple toilet paper anyway? But little do they know that—"

"Nevermind. Thanks."

Hana closed the door and banished a secret smile from her lips. That trick never fails.

The next day, Yuki was talking to his Editor in Chief about the upcoming Halloween Ball. A lot of ideas were already taken into account for the design and now he was talking to the editor about who should be featured in the article. He was glad the Editor in chief was a serious journalist, if he wasn't then he would be just like the other boys who wished he were a girl. Which was completely embarrassing, not to mention quite disgusting.

"So should I put the picture of the best costumed pair in the front page?" he asked.

"Maybe we should put that on page six. We should reserve the front page for more important news about the school." Yuki said. "Maybe you should put the picture of the—" he stopped talking when he saw something completely baffling along the hall. Momiji was talking to…Hanajima?

They were walking down the hall and Momiji looked like he was helping Hana carry some books. He seemed to be engaging her in a one-sided conversation. Yuki felt completely disturbed. Not only did Momiji have no reason to talk to Hana, Hana also has no reason to talk to Momiji. So why were they there?

"Yuki-sempai? Sempai?" the boy's voice was blocked out of his mind when Hana and Momiji were walking towards them.

"Hanajima-san, Momiji…" Yuki blinked to see if it was real or just a dream. The pair looked at him and Momiji gave a bright smile. Hana gave a small, unnoticeable smile.

"Yuki-kun! How are you today!" Momiji gushed happily.

"Uh—I'm fine." Yuki answered, still disoriented at the sight of them.

"We were talking about Shigure-san's party." Hana answered his silent query.

"We were planning on sending him to Aya-chan's first while we arrange the party!" Momiji excitedly said.

"We? Hanajima-san, you're going?"

"If Tohru wants me to go, I'll go."

"Ne, ne, Yuki-kun, can't you come?" Momiji asked.

"Ah, Gomen, Momiji, I have a lot of things to do."

"EH, you can do them later! It's Shigure-san's birthday! Ne, neee…" Momiji whined, swirling his hips childishly and pouting.

"You will not go?" Hana asked. Yuki turned to her with a fake smile, he was so used to smiling away everything that he suddenly faltered at the sight of her. Her eyes weren't as lifeless as they were before. It was strange seeing her eyes have something other than nothingness. It was an emotion he couldn't decipher. It seemed like she was actually disappointed, but it also seemed like she was interested or curious. "Souma, Yuki has too many responsibilities." She continued. He wanted to say something, but found he had no voice. "So many, but none that he wants. Everyone is unfair to him because they can all depend on him. But he cannot depend on himself. He takes up responsibilities and forgets his own happiness. He is too busy making everyone smile that he can't make himself smile anymore. Yuki is kind…too kind…"

You stared at her, drowning in her purple eyes, trying to decipher what it was that made her see right through to him. He wasn't afraid anymore, but he still felt naked. His mask keeps falling off whenever she was around. It was transparent to her.

Momiji watched with morbid curiosity as the two locked their eyes upon each other. Yuki was beautiful, a prince, flawless and selfless. Hana was ugly, a witch, dark and mysterious. They were complete opposites. And yet something was attracting them both to each other. Something was between them that were almost visible. Something silver around both their fingers. Their wedding bands. Their only visible link.

"Do you want me to go?" he suddenly asked in a low voice, he was afraid it might tremble and show how the blood inside of him rushed and his heart pounded violently against his chest.

"Do you?" she asked right back.

Yuki swallowed hard, "Will you be there until late at night?"

"If Tohru wants me to be."

"Will you wait for me to come?" he almost whispered, only she could hear.

Hana looked up at him, his eyes filled with a shadow. "If Yuki wants me to."

With that, Yuki took the books in Momiji's arms and half of the books in Hanajima's, taking almost the whole load of books in his arms. "Momiji, go on ahead, I'll carry these."

"Ah, demo—" Yuki smiled at the rabbit and Momiji pouted into submission. He was so engrossed with them, and just when it was getting to the good part. He whipped up a bright smile and said, "Alright, I'll see you all later! Ja ne!" with that, he ran away.

"Ah, Yuki-sempai—"

"Junta-san, I'll get back to you later. I'll just help Hanajima-san with these books."

"Ah—a-alright." Withreluctancy, he left.

They were left alone in the hall. No one else was there but Yuki, Hana and the books. Hana was looking down with a blank expression and peered up at him from beneath thick, black lashes. "Souma-kun is too kind. he doesn't need to help me."

Yuki's lips lifted up into a bright smile, the brightest he had ever smiled and it was all because of her. "Please call me Yuki, Hana-chan."

Hana looked at him with slightly wider eyes. She had never seen Yuki's waves so bright, he was practically glowing. It was, remarkably, undeniably beautiful! She wasn't used to calling bright waves beautiful; she often found morbid, dark waves more attractive. But this bright wave seemed to make her feel strange, almost entangled to it. His waves were lighting hers and she felt it.

Uncontrollably, a smile appeared on Hana's face as well. And she suddenly felt a rising heat on her cheeks. What was happening to her? What was he doing to her? What was happening?

Review Responses:

Tsuki Mizuno: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.

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Moroi Mikomi: yes, Hatori has a large role in this story so you can hope to see him more often.

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Alex: thanks!

Different Child: thanks!

Matron Raenee: gomen for making you wait!


	12. Silver Band

Chapter 12:

Shigure opened the door and smiled brightly at the two girls in front of him. "Hana-chan! Uo-chan! It's so nice to see Tohru-kun's friends coming so often!" As it should be, Shigure was clueless about the plan.

Uotani winked and saluted, "Yo!" in a tomboyish way. Hana did nothing until Shigure got them to come in. They quickly went to the kitchen where they knew Tohru was. She was already preparing the ingredients for Shigure's cake and she smiled brightly to her two friends.

"Hana-chan, Uo-chan! You're just in time! Can you help me with the other dishes?" She asked.

"Sorry, Tohru, I can't cook." Uotani said, looking out into the living room where Shigure just vanished into his office.

"I'll help you, Tohru-kun." Hana said in a creepy way to others. But not to the ever innocent Tohru. Tohru smiled happily, thanking her helpful friend. She suggested Hana to start with cutting up the onions. But just as Hana was just about to bring down the blade into the onion, her hand froze!

"Hana-chan, what's wrong?"

"Tohru…. I can't move my hand…" Hana lifelessly said.

"Oh no, are you alright?"

"I will be, if I don't move it for a while." Hana cradled her hand for effect and quickly, Tohru snatched the knife from her hand and said with a determined look,

"Alright, Hana-chan, you shouldn't help me with cooking! Please, rest your hands."

"Alright, Tohru-kun, I'll just do what I can to help."

Later…

"Eh? What the hell is this?" Kyou said, looking at Hanajima who stood frozen at the doorway with a sign that says, "Do not Disturb" stationed before her chest.

"Tohru is busy. You shouldn't disturb her." She said, again, in a creepy tone.

Kyou's goosebumps had goosebumps. He shook it off, remembering that he was hungry.

"Kyou-kun, what's this all about?" Shigure sang happily, patting Kyou on the shoulder seeing that the cat was tense. Looking over the cat's shoudler, he saw the sign, "Do not Disturb"

At the sight of him, Kyou got nervous! Oh no, what if he suddenly finds out? "N-N-Nothing!" he yelled loudly.

Seeing the cat tense at the sight of him, Shigure had the suspicious feeling. What were these kids up to? Hm…how to find out? Shigure grinned slyly. "Oh, Kyou, Hana-chan, is that Tohru's down there?" he pointed at their feet. Both Kyou and Hana looked down at the same time and Shigure ran right past them! Although his victory was short lived since he skidded to a stop when he encountered Uotani.

"NANI!" Shigure said, seeing the second barrier he didn't expect.

Uotani lifted a sign with one hand that said, "You asked for it" and as soon as Shigure finished reading it, he saw Uo holding onto a big baseball bat! The room seemed to have shrunk and suddenly the temperature became increasingly hot. Shigure gulped at the sight of the baseball bat and the dangerous Yankee. Should he gamble it?

Uo swung the bat forward, Shigure ducked. The bat almost hit him and Shigure decided, "Definitely not!" he ran back to the living room to join Kyou who looked angrily at him. Shigure shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "It was worth a try, ne?"

"This is ridiculous! No one's getting in my way!" Kyou declared, stepping to the left. Hana blocked. He stepped to the right. Hana blocked. Aggravated, he growled and said, What the HELL!" swiftly, he pushed Shigure towards Hana. Shigure, unprepared, flailed his arms around and tip toed just to keep away from the scary Hanajima whose dempa just rose. It was like a silent warning, 'touch me and you're dead.'

As this occurred, Kyou ran forward, skidding into a halt at the sight of Uotani. He read the sign, "You asked for it." And without warning, Uo stuffed leak into his mouth! Kyou paled and almost fainted at the disgusting taste of leak! He ran away, back into the safety of the living room!

"Everyone should learn how to understand signs." Hanajima said. Kyou glared daggers at her, being sore as he was. Shigure just moped.

"Well if I'm not welcome in my own kitchen, I don't know where I belong anymore…" Shigure sighed, tears streaking his animated face.

"Oh, shut up!" Kyou said. Suddenly, there was a beeping noise and everyone looked curiously at Shigure. Shigure smiled sheepishly and looked at his watch. "What the hell?" Kyou said. It wasn't always that he saw Shigure with a watch, much less a watch with an alarm. Since when was Shigure following a schedule?

"Oops, I gotta go! I'll be back by seven, ja ne minna-san! Kyou, take care of my little flower for me while I'm away!" He said, floating towards the door. A random object hit him hard on the head from behind and Kyou yelled angrily,

"WHO'S LITTLE FLOWER!"

A while later, Momiji, Haru, Kisa, Hero and Hatori had already arrived. Kisa was helping Tohru with the dishes and Hero helped with getting a few devices from the shelves. But not without the random sharp insults he throws Tohru's way every thirty seconds or so. Tohru simply smiled and waved it off, her patience never wavering.

At the living room, Uo and Hana drank tea together with Hatori. They sat in silence, no one spoke and no one bothered. Kyou sulked up in his room and often went back into the bathroom to brush his teeth. The taste of leak still lingered in his mouth and he didn't like it one bit! Momiji and Haru were out buying the party poppers for when Shigure arrives.

Hatori's cellphone rang and he answered it alertly. After speaking briefly, he hung up. "Shigure's coming. Ayame is with him."

Hana nodded in understanding and Uo left to tell Tohru and the others. There was a long while of silence up until Hana decided to speak. "You came early."

"I didn't want to be late."

"Time is just something humans made themselves. It's obsolete."

"I agree completely." They looked at each other, understanding in both their eyes. Hana knew and so did Hatori that they had a lot in common. Hana broke the eye contact and raised the glass to her lips. Hatori's eye lingered on her and nothing but her. Up until a silver ring caught his eyes. What was that? He'd never seen it on her before. Was it new? If so, who gave it to her?

"That ring." he mentioned. Hana looked down at her hand and then to him. "Who is it from?" he asked vivaciously. He would never have been this rude and intrusive if he was himself. But right then, he wasn't feeling like himself. Something was eating him inside, demanding to know who gave her a ring and put it on her ring finger!

Hana took her time, staring at him and calculating her answer. "Yuki."

Something in Hatori snapped like an overly tightened string finally giving up. Hatori concealed it but Hana saw through his façade because of the sudden wildness of his waves. Why was he angry? Jealous. He was jealous. Of whom? Yuki? Why? Because of the ring? Why?

"I see." Was all he answered.

"I'm glad…" she started, taking his attention. "I'm glad you came." She said, slowly turning her gaze towards him. Their eyes once again locked and this time, something calmed Hatori down. The small, unnoticable smile on her face; that was the smile he called _the Mona Lisa smile_. A smile that could sink ships and drowns men into the deep pools of nothingness inside her eyes. That was the smile he'd always felt attracted to. The very rare smile Kanna once showed him.

When Shigure came, Ayame right behind him, everyone jumped from their hiding places and popped the poppers. Confetti flew all over as animated tears flowed freely down his chibi face. "Oh, I'm so touched! I didn't think you guys would remember! Oh, this is the happiest day of my life!" he wailed as he approached Tohru happily with arms wide open as if to hug. And, predictably, Kyou intercepted and punched the perverted dog upside the head.

"BAKA HENTAI!"

Everyone seated themselves at the dining table and the girls served the array of delicious looking dishes! Everyone ate merrily and everyone had a smile on their face. Tohru looked around with satisfaction. Everyone was happy. Shigure was talking to Ayame who sat beside him. Haru talked politely to Kisa and Hero. Uo and Kyou argued about who was getting the last bit of sushi. Momiji was talking to her and Hana was quietly sitting beside Hatori. The only one missing was Yuki and Kagura.

"Momiji-kun, where's Kagura-san?" she asked.

"Oh, Haru didn't tell me why but he said she couldn't go."

"Oh…" she said with a crestfallen face. Well that explains the absence of Kagura. Then the only one truly missing was Yuki. Where could he be? She understood that Yuki would be late but still. She couldn't help but worry.

"Oh, presents?" Shigure said, accepting the gift Kisa shyly gave him.

"Hai." She said, "It's from me and Hero-kun." Hero huffed from behind her and looked away. "Happy birthday, Shigure-san." She smiled.

"Arigatou, Kisa-chan!" instead of opening it right then and there, Shigure stashed it under the table. He'd open it later.

After a longer while of gift giving, Tohru finally took out the cake and laid it in front of Shigure. She lit the candle and said, "Make a wish!" enthusiastically.

"Arigatou, minna-san." Shigure whispered as he made his wish in his mind, closing his eyes with a small boyish smile he's been using unusually often nowadays.

Hatori looked from the cake to Shigure, to Hanajima. She was beautiful with the candlelight. The lights were turned off so everything else was swallowed in darkness. She was the only thing he saw now. Hanajima and her enchanting mystery. Her empty eyes twinkled with shared mirth as Shigure blew the candle. She was happy for him, so it seemed. And he was glad to have gone to this party. He didn't regret it. Not one bit.

The doorbell rang. Everyone looked to it and Haru decided to open the door. As he slid the shoji doors open, his eyes widened to see Yuki there, panting and dripping with sweat. Was he running? It looked that way?

"Did—did everyone go home?" Yuki said through heavy panting.

"No, Shigure-san just finished making a wish." Haru explained.

Yuki went straight to the dining room, wiping his sweat with his sleeve and peered around the room. There was Hanajima. A smile cam upon his face. She waited. She didn't leave. She waited for him.

"Yuki-kun!" Ayame acknowledged. He patted the empty seat next to him, the empty space in between him and Hanajima. "Better late than never, ne, little brother!" he laughed loudly again and flipped his hair. He was such a man-pretty.

Yuki quickly went to the empty seat and steadied his breath, looking at Hanajima. Tohru looked at them, sitting together, then turned away. She quieted herself and ignored the thoughts running through her head.

As Ayame and Shigure went on making racket with their mouths and vocal cords, Yuki smiled at Hanajima who looked back at him. "Am I too late?" he asked.

"No," Hana said, "Just in time." From inside her long black sleeve, she took out a small lace handkerchief. She offered it to him but he refused, saying he couldn't possibly. Hana smiled, so the prince charming act wasn't just an act after all? He was built in with a personality of a gentleman then? How quaint. "Take it." With a bit of hesitance and shyness, Yuki took the handkerchief and wiped his forehead off of sweat.

"Arigatou, Hana-chan." He said. He was glad to finally call her what he'd been calling her in his mind all this time. He was tired of knowing so much about her and feeling so close her but still not be able to say her name informally.

At the mention of the nickname, everyone stopped anything and everything they were doing and stared at Yuki. It seemed like time itself stopped. Someone made noise in the room and everyone turned to Tohru who fumbled to stand up and go. "I-I'll just get some drinks in the kitchen."

Kyou, sensing her distress, knitted his eyebrows and went after her.

When the party resumed, later that night, Hatori looked out of the balcony. He lit his cigarette and puffed as he stared at the full moon. Thoughts ran through his mind, questions he dared not ask tonight. He didn't even want to think about it. Was he starting to regret coming? No, he wasn't. Without warning, the door opened. He turned sharply to see Hanjima there, looking at him.

"Hanajima-san." He acknowledged.

"You want to be alone?" she said, walking slowly towards him.

Hatori calculated his next move, "No." she stopped in front of him, standing beside him at the balcony. "You?"

She looked out into the night, "I always am."

Out of nowhere, Hatori asked, "May I see the ring?" Hana raised an eyebrow at him but took of her ring anyway. She handed it to him, her fingers lightly grazing his palm. Their first physical contact. He looked at the ring perceptively. It was not special. It looked cheap.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Kyou came flying through the doors. Black Haru had gotten into a fight with the temper-mental cat and everyone had watched up until Haru threw Kyou to the door. Kyou hit Hatori and Hatori, caught by surprise, widened his eyes and grabbed the railings to keep from falling from a two-story building.

Hanajima's eyes widened at the sight of the silver band flying out of Hatori's eyes. With uncharacteristic swiftness, Hana jumped! She extended her arms, trying to reach the shining ring. Someone yanked her other arm back roughly and she hit the hard roof. She looked up to see Kyou holding onto her hand and the railing, looking down at her with incredulous eyes. "What do you think you're doing!" he yelled at her.

She could see everyone coming to the balcony, looking down at them. Kyou helped her back up into the balcony and she choked back a yelp from the pang she felt on her left thigh. "Hana-chan!" Yuki exclaimed with worry.

"Tell me where it hurt." Hatori quickly and sternly said. Hana looked down at her leg where blood started staining her long black skirt. Hatori gently set her down to sit and apologized before tearing her skirt, revealing her shapely long legs. It would have been enticing if it wasn't for the large cut on her thigh.

Everyone stared for a while then, simultaneously, blood dripped from their noses. Yuki, used to seeing Hana's legs while he was still Prince, coughed loudly to tell everyone they were being rude. No one seemed to notice him, so he stood in front of the group. As if the group was one whole being, he pushed them far enough until they were all out of the room. Satisfied with that, he slammed the door shut. _Perverts._

He turned back to Hana and Hatori. Hatori turned to him, "Get me hot water. I'll need to clean her wound." Yuki nodded with discipline and went out to get what Hatori asked for. Hatori turned his attention back to Hana, who held her balled fists to her chest where her heart lays. "Does it hurt anywhere else?"

Hana looked down into her hands, the ring glistening under the moonlight. A small smile creeped into her face and she closed her eyes with relief. "I'm alright."

Review Responses:

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Matron Raenee: haha! I understand completely! Thanks!

Daniel of Lorien: It's not over yet. Thanks though.


	13. cheesecakes?

Chapter 13:

Hatori walked the halls of the museum, partly appreciating the various works of art and partly drowning in his own thoughts. It's been a week now since the…event at Shigure's party. For a while everyone seemed to have changed their views on Hanajima, Saki. She used to be the calm, quiet wallflower…suddenly she's the devil-may-care girl that jumps off of rooftops. Everyone, especially Tohru, seemed frightened at the thought of leaving her alone anymore. But thanks to time, the wound on her leg started to heal just as everyone slowly came at ease once again.

What puzzled him the most was that ring. What did it really mean to her? Was it so important? Exactly what happened? Why Yuki? He searched the dark corners of his mind for something to grasp on, something to consider a reasonable answer. But none came. All he could think of was that damn ring and Yuki giving it to her. Was he jealous? Possibly. Possessive? Couldn't be. Falling?

Just when he was about to conclude that he had no answer to the last question that invaded his mind, he was stopped by the sight of one woman—girl…standing ever so still in the same partially empty hall as him. No one would ever take notice of her for she wore what would make her invisible. Only he saw her, for he as well was trying to be invisible.

He stepped closer, closer and closer until he was at an arm's reach. She turned to him, sensing his dark, morbid waves with her dempa. Her emotionless, empty gaze turning and belonging to him. He captured her with his stoic gaze and his eyes roved the smooth surface of the modest beauty that is Hanajima.

What was she doing here? Not a lot of people went to museums on weekends. But then again, she wasn't like a lot of people. What was she looking at? He turned to the painting on the wall and saw a picture of a road. It was winter in the painting yet cherry blossoms were blossoming still as if it was spring. He couldn't see the logic in it, but he somehow felt drawn to it.

"It's…beautiful." She spoke softly, turning back to the painting with a small mysterious smile.

He eyed her form the corner of his covered eye, the one that saw only her outline and her dark, still form. "Yes, it is." He answered simply to imply that he was listening to her.

"What's beautiful about it…is that it's wrong." She started, not taking her eyes from the painting. He stared at her still. "The season and the trees are wrong. The road is straight but there's no end to it. The sky is vanilla, but the moon is set high above it. It's all wrong."

"But it's beautiful…" Hatori started, "because it contradicts itself. It compliments everything about everything. It…makes its counter-part…stand out as it should." He finished.

There it was again. _The Mona Lisa smile_. He could see the twinkling mirth in her eyes at the prospect of someone sharing her very thoughts. They were thinking the same thing; their understanding was as if they were one whole being. It was as if they were made for each other.

Hatori looked back to the painting, to the thick layers of ice on the ground. Out of nowhere he spoke, "Hanajima-san, when winter melts away, what will it turn into?"

Hanajima looked at him then, wondering what came over him to ask such a strange question. She thought in her mind the situation and turned back to the painting with a sure answer. "Tears." Hatori swiftly turned his head to her in both wonder and confusion. He'd never heard that answer before and it was quite strange. Seeing that she needed to give him an explanation, Hana continued. "When winter melts away…I will…cry…" she looked to him, her eyes staying bound to his.

Somehow, in some way he couldn't explain even ten years from then…he felt completely breathless. He felt the walls of ice melting away. He felt every single shard of ice falling off of his body. He felt complete release as if he'd been choking in a room full of smoke and someone finally opened a window. He felt something similar to what he felt for Kana except this was different somehow. He couldn't tell what was different. Hell, he couldn't even think straight at the moment. All he could think of was the sincerity he found in those eyes. If he melted away…she would really…cry.

She turned back to the painting after a while, appreciating it a while longer before whispering her goodbye to him. Before she could turn to leave, he had already spoken. "Have lunch with me?" it was more of a statement than a question. She turned to him with a raised brow, not quite believing she heard him right.

Kagura walked the busy streets in silence with a bag of groceries in her arms. She was in deep thought about the talk with Haru a few days ago. She supposed she should apologize for hurting him that way. It was just that…her emotions got in the way. Admittedly, Kyou was still in her heart. And just the thought of seeing Kyou so happy being with another girl—with Tohru of all people…she just wasn't sure if she was strong enough yet. Perhaps another time.

The stoplight turned green and she stopped at the sidewalk. After a while, she got bored of just watching random cars pass by so she looked around her. Something caught her eyes though when she turned to a nearby café. Who was that? It was Hatori! But…who's that girl with her? She looked a little familiar but not enough for Kagura to recognize her. She looked so creepy what with her black braided hair, jet-black old-fashioned dress, and deathly pale skin. But what were most frightening about her were those eyes. They were blankly staring…as if she was lifeless.

Neither one was talking; they weren't doing anything much but staring. Hatori was staring at her while she was staring at her cup of tea. What were they doing there? It was strange since she'd never seen Hatori out with a woman other than Kanna. But that was ages ago. So what was this? Was Hatori moving on? If so, who else is moving on? Should she as well move on? The stoplight turned red and the cars stopped. With that, she turned away and crossed the road. Perhaps another time.

Hana looked up at the doctor whom she knew had been staring at her the whole time. What was he looking at? Content. His waves say that he's content. To eat lunch or to be with her? He was handsome, she concluded, looking into those deep dark windows to his soul. Seeing as this event would be completely dreary if no one broke the silence soon, Hana spoke first.

"Souma-san, I haven't received the bill yet."

"Bill?"

"For stitching my wounds. I told you to send them to me, didn't I?"

Hatori looked outside the glass panel, avoiding eye contact with her. "It's free."

Hana looked up at him from her thick lashes, curiosity coursed through her veins. "Free?"

"Hai, free. I won't charge for it."

Hana looked down at her cup of tea and wondered if it was free too. "Why?"

Hatori, once again as he always did, weighed his answer carefully. He decided to be bold and daring that moment. _When winter melts away…I will…cry…_ "I will always fix you." Hana turned to him sharply; her finger twitched and something in her chest told her something she couldn't understand. "Whenever you are hurt, or wounded, or cut…I will always come…and fix you."

Hana stared at him carefully as he sipped his cup of coffee as if nothing happened. She only knew one thing to say at times like this when kindness is shown to her... "Thank…you..."

Hatori looked at her, loving the way the light seemed to make her darkness transcendent. Who could resist a beauty as morbid as her? Surely not him. She was an outward representation of his inner emotions…his darkness.

Tohru stopped at the doorway of the kitchen with eyes wide and incredulous. "Souma-kun!" Yuki turned to her with surprise and the eggs he held in his hand fell to the floor.

"Oh, no, it's alright, Honda-san. I'll pick it up."

"Yuki-kun, what are you doing in here? Why are the kitchen utensils out of the cupboard?"

Yuki blushed and scratched the back of his head in an adorable fashion. "Gomen, Honda-san, if I'm causing you any trouble. I'll clean it up soon."

"Oh, no, Souma-kun! I-it's alright! I-I didn't mean to intrude in your activities or anything—I mean—I…"

As Tohru kept bowing and apologizing, Yuki started looking back at the cook book at the corner near the sink. Can he really do it? No…he couldn't cook for his life, let alone bake. He needed someone's help. Someone who's good at cooking. And then a light bulb was turned on. Bling! Idea!

"Honda-san." Tohru looked up at hi through her teary apologies and saw him smiling that oh-so-charming smile at her. "Would you mind if I asked for your help?"

Tohru blinked twice before it fully registered in her mind that Yuki was asking for her help. "Ah—sure, Souma-kun. What do you want me to help you with?"

"I'm…baking a cheesecake." He smiled.

"Cheesecake?" Tohru asked.

Yuki nodded enthusiastically for once, "Hai! Cheesecake!"

Review Responses:

LadieAnimeFreek: thank you! I'm glad you think so!

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Hanasaki Kaguya: hahaha! I'm still not sure yet. I like Hatori as much as I like Yuki. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! Thanks!

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Unchained3011: hmhmhm… yes, it does! (wink, wink)

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Matron Raenee: hahaha! Thanks for waiting so patiently!


	14. Alright

Chapter 13:

Yuki looked at the finished product with a bright, satisfied smile. Yes, it truly looked like a cheesecake! It smelled like a cheesecake. It's shaped like a cheesecake. Only question. Does it taste like a cheesecake? Tohru came and smiled at him, holding up a silver fork. "Let's taste it, shall we?"

"A-AH, H-Honda-san, perhaps **I** should taste it." Yuki nervously smiled. He wouldn't want his mentor to die of food poisoning, now would he? Better he tasted it. That way he could spare himself the shame when he finds out that he failed totally. He gently pried the fork out of her hand and tasted a small portion of the cake.

His eyes widened, as if electricity bolted throughout his body, his fingers shook. He couldn't believe it. "Souma-kun? Are you okay?" Tohru asked with worry all over her face.

"I-It's—It…It tastes like cheesecake!" he exclaimed with joy! He can bake! He can bake! Oh, Hana-chan would be so happy! He could just imagine Hana-chan smiling when she opens the box he's going to give her and see the cheesecake he baked himself! He didn't even mind that Honda-san forgot about the curse and hugged him out of pure joy.

"G-Gomen, Souma-kun." Tohru said with her head hung low. Yuki almost laughed,

"It's alright, Honda-san. It's no problem." He was too happy to be bothered by anything right now.

Meanwhile, as Yuki rejoiced his "Victory" over his inability to cook, his brother Ayame and his best friend, the doctor, Hatori were sipping tea on his couch. "It's so nice that you've come to visit me, Ha'ri!" Ayame said.

"Hn." Hatori said, sipping on his tea.

A girl came into their view in a maid's outfit—much like what Mine was wearing except with a longer skirt, with a tray of biscuits in her hands. She was fairly pretty (pretty enough to catch Hatori's eyes) and looked only a little older than Tohru. She graced the two men with a brief smile then placed the tray ceremoniously down onto the table in front of them.

"Arigatou, Sonrisa-chan!" Ayame said loudly and sweetly, in a way.

Sonrisa glared at him with her gleaming emerald green eyes and frowned angrily. Seeing as Hatori was still there, she bit her tongue instead of snapping at him for calling her so informally, again. She spun around, he long jet black hair whipping behind her and swaying, much like her hips, as she walked away.

When she was out of sight completely, Hatori raised a brow at Ayame with curiosity. "Who is she?"

"Ah, her! She's a new employee of mine. Her name's Hermoso, Sonrisa. She's of foreign blood but she's orphaned. 'Gure-san said she used to be a pickpocket working for a gang that she was indebted to." Ayame said casually, staring at her tracks with soft eyes.

"Shigure?"

Ayame started laughing at the circumstance. For the first time he actually had something Hatori didn't know of. It was funny, in a way. He waved it off with a graceful, overly exaggerated flip of the hair. "So tell me, Ha'ri, to what do I owe the honor of having you actually visit my humble shop?"

Hatori took another sip of his tea. "I needed an escape."

"Escape?"

"High school girls are flooding my clinic with imaginary pains and symptoms." He said factually. He was never flattered by such attention. He was mostly irritated. That was why Hanajima, Saki was so interesting to him. When faced with her, he had the need to have her attention on him. He actually wanted her eyes focused on him and only him. She made him want to be under her spotlight.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Ha'ri, you were always the ladies man! Gure-san would just love to be in your place right now!"

"Hmph." Hatori silently scoffed but then stayed silent and sipped his tea again.

"So," Ayame started with a sly smile, leaning back on the couch, "Who's finally made you move on?"

Hatori quickly snapped his eye at Ayame in alarm. "What?"

"OHOHOHOHOHO!" Ayame laughed at the back of his hand, "I know you, Ha'ri! People may not see it but I certainly do! You're positively blooming today!" Hatori looked at Ayame with disbelieving eyes. Ayame continued with his rather loud proclamations, "So tell me, who's the lucky lady? She must be very beautiful! Of course, she'll be beautiful! Oh, I wonder what clothes she likes to wear. What's her favorite color? I'll need to know if I'm going to make her a wedding dress!"

Hatori hid a secret smile with his cup. Yes, Hanajima was very beautiful. He could just imagine how beautiful she would look like in a wedding dress, her hair up in a bun, flowers in her hand. "Tell me, Ha'ri! Tell me!"

"Shut up."

The next day, Yuki passed Hanajima while she was getting her notebooks from her locker. "Hana-chan, are you busy?"

Hana turned to him with blank eyes, wondering why he asked her that. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Would you mind coming with me before classes start?" before she could give him a reply, Yuki had already taken her hand and led her to the roof deck. They didn't notice the many student's whose expressions were that of shock at seeing them together. The boyish excitement radiating off of Yuki disoriented everyone, especially Hana. Why was he so bright all of a sudden? It was making her bright too.

When they came to the roof deck, Yuki closed the door not so gently and turned to Hana with a small red box in his hands. Hana looked at it, a red box with a golden ribbon. Strange. Why was he showing this to her?

He put it in her hands with a sweet smile and said nothing. Hana looked at it, then to him with curiosity and confusion. She carefully took off the ribbon and opened the box. There inside was a beautiful slice of cheesecake, almost glowing with the rays of the sun. She looked up at Yuki and said, "Is this…for me?"

"Hai." Yuki nodded. _I baked it myself_, he bragged in his mind. Of course he would never say that out loud.

Hana, for some unknown reason, felt warmth inside of her. Yuki gave her a gift. But what was so special about this gift that made Yuki so…exuberant? Knowing the basic human psychology, she quickly found a conclusion. "You…made this?"

Yuki's eyes widened in surprise. How did she know? Did it look that bad? "Gomen, Hana-chan, if it isn't made as good as the ones you can buy in a bakery."

"No." she shook her head gently and looked up at him with a small sweet smile. "I…like it. Thank you…"

Seeing a smile on her face made Yuki smile as well. He was relieved and…enlightened that she liked it. They sat on the roof deck together, talking and slowly eating the cheesecake Yuki worked so hard on. Hana, for some reason, wanted the moment to last. She wasn't one to appreciate warm moments with other people other than her friends. But then again, Yuki was her friend, wasn't he? He was…he's become an important person to her, hasn't he? Yes, he has. But how important has he become?

She looked at the ring glimmering around her finger. Yes, that was the question. How important has Yuki become to her? **Riiiiing**! The bell rang and told them it was time for classes to start.

Hana looked at him as the teacher kept on talking about something she didn't even bother to listen to. Why was he so kind to her? Did he pity her for something? What did he want from her? Why give her so many things? Like the cheesecake he baked himself. And…she looked down at her hand again, like this ring. He was doing things so strange lately. It used to be that he didn't even give her a second look. He never showed interest in her before. He was simply another one of those shallow hypocrites who were too blinded to see anyone else's pains because of their own. So why change now?

"Hana-chan? Hana-chan?" Hana looked up and found herself staring at a worried looking Tohru and a curious looking Uo.

"Tohru-kun…" she said as if waking from a stupor.

"Wow, you've been zoning out more often than before nowadays." Uo said casually.

Hana looked around and found that the teacher had already left the room. It seems that she spent the whole class time staring at her ring. Oh. "Gomen." She spoke lifelessly.

Uo sighed and put her palm to her forehead. She shook her head and then opened her eyes to smile at her hopeless friend. "So, I guess you don't know we're gonna have a quiz tomorrow on the History of Mythology Chapter 12?"

Hana looked at her blankly and stayed silent for a while. Then a very meek, "Oh."

"Hana-chan, if you want me to help—" Tohru started, taking a step forward with that oh so concerned face of hers.

"Tohru-kun, how can you possibly help Hanajima when you yourself need help?" Uo said with a condescending smile. Tohru blushed at that and bowed her apologies with teary eyes.

"Gomen, Hana-chan!"

Hanajima smiled a small sweet smile, Tohru was always so kind. Just like…_Yuki_. "Do you want to come with us, Hanajima? I can teach two people you know." Uo said with an inviting smile.

Hana thought it over. Knowing Tohru, she would most likely put most of her attention on her rather than her studies. Tohru would surely rather make sure that her friends were comfortable instead of making sure that her brain was taking in all of the information. She would merely serve for a distraction for Tohru. Tohru didn't need that.

"Iie, it's alright."

The smile vanished from Uotani's face when she heard her gothic friend. "You sure?"

"N. I'm sure." Hana answered calmly. Uotani was reluctant but shrugged and left with Tohru nonetheless. Hana looked down at her ring again. It was alright. When she fails this quiz she can retake an easier quiz later. She won't need to pass this time.

"Hana-chan." She looked up again only this time, to see Yuki's undeniably beautiful face. "Gomen, demo…I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Honda-san and Uotani-san." He smiled at her charmingly, "If you don't mind, may I volunteer to tutor you on this?"

Her eyes widened only a fraction, practically too small for any perceptive eye to see. What was Yuki doing? Was he trying to commit—what do they call it?—social suicide?

Seeing the doubt on her face, however small it may be, Yuki smiled reassuringly. "I want to help you pass, Hana-chan."

She stood up gracefully and said, "I don't need to pass this quiz…Yu—ki—kun." She was obviously having a hard time being informal with him. Yuki understood. Hana was hardly ever informal with anyone. And to think that she was trying to be informal with him was enough to make him smile.

Seeing the relentless smile on Yuki's face, she realized that it was his way of being persistent. She sighed and looked up at him. If this was what it took to make Yuki happy, then, "Alright."

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	15. White

Chapter 15:

Come to think of it, no one has actually witnessed the great prince Yuki study for anything. Yes, he reads books in classes. Yes, he takes many notes. But never had anyone actually seen Yuki Souma studying for a test. It was as if his academic achievements were effortless. Hana wondered what Yuki looked like, studying for a quiz. Would he be serious? Or would he not study at all and rely on his keen natural intellect?

They walked the hall side by side; they were ensconced by a comfortable silence. People were staring but they didn't really mind. Yuki's popularity was well acknowledged and they didn't find the need to be alarmed. But they didn't know that people were staring not only at Yuki but also at Hanajima. Seeing her walk side by side with the great Yuki Souma was enough to make a few more students drop their books and look on with either an amazed or a horrified expression.

It was like watching an embodiment of Yin and Yang walking down a high school hallway. It was so…what was the word to describe the sight of them? Strange? New? Disorienting? Any of these words would surely do. For seeing the two social opposites together was like seeing a dog dating a cat.

"YUKI-KUN!" they both turned to look back at who called Yuki with such resonance. It was Momiji running towards them, waving an arm to catch their attention. They waited for him to come to them, turning fully to face the handsome, blonde Souma.

"Hi, Hanajima-kun!" Momiji said, stopping in front of them. Hanajima simply bowed her hello and sunk into silence again. Momiji took no offence to this and simply turned his attention to Yuki. "Yuki-kun, are you going home already?"

"Hai. Why do you ask?" he asked politely.

"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" Momiji wagged his finger at his cousin. "Yuki, you should be ashamed of yourself. You haven't been visiting Aya-chan lately, have you? He's been bugging me to tell you to visit him as soon as possible. Hopefully today."

Yuki blushed lightly, found guilty. Yes, he's been avoiding that subject lately. He didn't want to visit that idiot of a brother, Ayame. No doubt he'd just loose his temper and start beating him up senseless just like last time at the resort. He didn't want to talk to an idiot. Especially an idiot he was related to. Thank goodness Hana-chan was there to be his scapegoat!

"Hahaha! Gomen, Momiji-kun, demo I have to help Hana-chan with her—"

"It's alright."

"Huh?"

Hanajima looked at him with a blank façade. "I don't want Yuki-kun to steer from his family just because of me. Besides, I can retake an easier quiz after tomorrow. I don't need to study." With that, she walked away. Yuki felt his heart falling. He felt as if he made Hana-chan feel left out and became just as guilty as he did earlier.

"H-Hana-chan!" Hana turned to him, waiting for him to continue. They didn't notice the many widened eyes and eyeballs falling out of their sockets. Yuki smiled patiently, "Would you mind coming with me?" Hana's eyebrows rose because she didn't expect something like that to come out of his lips. "I think it will take only a little while… so right after my visit, we can go study."

Hana thought about it for a moment then turned to face him fully. "Alright."

Yuki sighed of relief, wanting her to stay with him for a little while longer. "Great!" Momiji yelled with a nod only a cheerleader would do. "Aya-chan's at his shop!"

"Alright." Yuki nodded in understanding then smiled Hana's way. "Let's go?" Hanajima nodded with an invisible doubt. She hesitated for a moment then took a step forward. More steps forward until she was back at his side. She looked at him beside her, smiling down at her charmingly. She smiled back, only a fraction of the side of her lips lifting into an indiscernible smile, her minor hesitance vanishing.

Later, at Ayame's shop, "AH! YUKI-KUN! I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR DEAR LOVING BROTHER HAS MISSED YOU! I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW MUCH YOU'VE MISSED ME TOO!" Ayame yelled in an irritatingly cheery voice.

Yuki looked on sulkily, "Who said I would ever miss you." He said. He almost looked as dark as Hanajima who stood beside him, quietly despising the many colorful, revealing apparels decorating the shop.

"Oh, who's this? Is this your girlfriend, Yuki-kun! Oh, I can't believe you've already got a girlfriend! Oh, they grow up so fast nowadays. That's alright, Yuki-kun, I was just as forward as you when I was your age. Why, I distinctly remember having a rather short relationship with a girl named Akira, she had the best—"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Yuki angrily interjected.

"Oh, come now, Yuki-kun, don't be shy! You can tell your loving brother anything!"

"I hate you." He muttered.

"Come Yuki; show your dear brother how much you love him." Ayame opened his arms wide open, expecting a hug.

"I hate you." Yuki muttered again.

"No hug huh? Well, I guess that's okay! I know you're shy about hugging your brother in front of your girlfriend." He said, winking at Yuki.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Yuki finally yelled, loosing his temper at the self-centered idiot who was too deaf because of his ignorantly loud yelling to hear anything of what anyone else says.

That was when Ayame stopped to look at him curiously. "She's not?" he turned to Hana and asked, "You're not?"

When he asked this, his face was only inches from hers. So that was the time when her dempa made itself known, rising threateningly. Ayame was too focused on her face to notice the threat. Hana narrowed her eyes at him. She was just about to hurt him when he finally leaned back and looked at her critically.

"Oh, I see. You came to look at my dresses! Great! I've already gotten an idea for you, it's just your size and I think the color will look good on you! Mine-chan!" he clapped his hands.

At once Mine-san was at his side, awaiting his orders. She was wearing a nurse's outfit with the skirt shorter than necessary. "Hi, Yuki-kun! You're looking as handsome as always! Hai, Ayame-san!" she smiled to Yuki then turned her attention to serving her boss.

"Take Yuki's friend here and have her try on the Old One." He winked at her.

"Oh, the Old One? You really think that will suit her?" Mine said, looking at Hana with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Yes, of course! Never doubt your boss, Mine-san, never!"

"Of course, Ayame-san! I'll do it right now! Come with me, miss! I'll take you to the dressing room!" Hana didn't even get a chance to run for her life. In a flash, they were already gone from Yuki's sight.

Yuki, who had been panicking the whole time, looked pale as if he's seen a ghost. He didn't know what he was more afraid of; Hana-chan in a strange dress or Mine-san getting hurt by the dempa.

"So tell me, Yuki, what's her name?" Ayame asked, sitting down on his favorite couch.

Yuki hung his head low in submission, there was nothing else to do now but wait. He sat down on the couch next to his brother and answered calmly, "Hanajima, Saki."

"Want some tea?" he cheerfully asked. Yuki nodded meekly, leaning back on the couch. Ayame rang a little bell lying on the table and yelled, "Sonrisa-chan! Would you be kind enough to bring us some tea!"

Yuki raised a brow. Who was Sonrisa? He didn't know Ayame employed anyone else other than Mine-san. Soon a pretty lady came into view with a tray of hot tea on one hand. She wore a nurse's outfit as well, much like Mine's but with a longer skirt and sleeves. Her other hand was at her hips and she was looking very peeved.

She put down the tray in front of them ceremoniously then quickly straightened her back, glaring down at Ayame. "Forgive my rudeness, Souma-san, but I've told you more than once to please not call me so informally!" she now had two hands to her hips and a pout on her lips.

Ayame looked unfazed and smiled all the while. Yuki didn't know if Ayame was just that dumb or he was purposely irking her. But either way, it served to irritate the girl even more. "Sonrisa-chan, didn't I tell you to undo the first button?"

Both Yuki and Sonrisa blushed at that. Yuki was so ashamed that moment. His brother was such a hentai. "Listen here, Souma-san! I've forgiven you for making me follow whatever uniform Mine-san wears on the day! But I refuse to undo any button of any of the clothing I wear!" Sonrisa yelled.

"But I told you, you look cuter with the undone button!" Ayame whined.

"I don't care if I look cute or not!"

"I do!"

"I don't!"

"And didn't I tell you to let your hair down? You're pulling it into a ponytail again!"

"Stop dictating to me what I must do with my hair!"

"I will not!" Ayame stood, coming closer to her to make her see how tall he was compared to her. She reached his collarbone. "As an employee of a shop that gives women pretty clothes, you have to advertise the pretty clothes! If you don't look good in the clothes I make, then you're not advertising well!" he said with a flip of his hair.

"You, Souma-san, are a—a—ARGGH! I'll tell Shigure-san about this!" she threatened with a pout.

Ayame grinned in a way that made him completely irresistible to any woman! Almost any woman. "Gure-san would be so proud of me." Yuki was wide eyed. That was actually a cunning thing, what Ayame said. For the first time, he heard his brother say something close to smart and outwitting! Who was this guy in front of him?

She tried to argue but realized that they were both perverts who'd simply enjoy the thought of a woman in such an indecent state. So she settled for glaring at him and uttering, "I will not undo any button of my clothing." With venom.

"Alright, alright!" Ayame said. But just as he said it, he quickly pulled the ribbon from her hair, letting it loose to breathe. "But you will let your hair down." He smiled slyly. She glared even more but settled for the bargain. She turned around and left.

Ayame had a satisfied smile on his face when he turned to sit back down on the couch. "Here's your tea, Yuki." He said with a smile, offering his dumbfounded brother the cup of tea. For a while longer, Yuki stared at his brother with a shocked expression. He'd never seen Ayame be like that before.

"W-Who was that?" Yuki finally got to ask.

"A new employee of mine! Gure-san recommended her to me on his birthday. She's quite the feisty one but at the same time she's very polite." Ayame said casually. Yuki raised a brow.

"You like her?"

Ayame stared at him for a while then erupted into laughter. When he calmed down, he smiled at his brother genuinely. "Yeah, maybe. She's fun to be around." Yuki felt even more dumbfounded than before. That was the first time Ayame's ever confessed his feelings about a woman before. And for Yuki, he was officially shocked.

It was then that Mine came out from behind the large curtains, looking as if burned in a toaster. She looked blank and said to Ayame lifelessly, "Please consider this my early retirement." Ayame opened his mouth to stop her but she was quicker than light.

As soon as she left, Hanajima came out with an icy air about her. But that didn't stop the two men from gawking with wide eyes at the sight of Hanajima, Saki. She wore an off-shoulder dress in a Victorian style with black streaks flowing down her long silky skirt. Her braid became loose, perhaps from struggling, but that merely made her look ever more beautiful. The satin gloves that reached up to just below her armpits was a great and elegant finishing touch. But what was out of the ordinary the most was that the gown was white as white can be.

Ayame was the first to snap out of it and notice the dreamy expression on his brother's face. A hidden smile appeared on his lips. He came closer to inspect her then noticed something standing at the top of her head. "What's this?" he poked it and got electrified. He pulled away, not being able to feel his brain anymore. "What's this?" he poked it again and the same thing happened. It seemed that after being electrified, he forgot everything that happened one second before. Ayame's brain was getting fried but Yuki was too shocked and awestruck to care. He never thought any other color looked good on Hana other than black. But it seems white looked even better than black. She was so… beautiful.

Review Responses:

Shezel: thanks!

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LadieAnimeFreek: I'll do my best, arigatou! And yes, Yuki is practically perfect! Swoon. Swoon. Swoon.

Hanasaki Kaguya: Hahahaha! I'm glad you liked the concept of HanaxYuki. Arigatou!

Daniel of Lorien: thanks!

princessmoi: I'll do my best, thank you!

Matron Raenee: Oh, Kyo's so cute! Thanks for the constant support!

Cherrymilkkisses: thank you!


	16. Doctor

Chapter 16:

Hana looked at the grade at the top of her quiz paper, a slightly bewildered expression on her face. Ninety. She got a solid ninety. This was the highest grade she had ever achieved in her life. Ninety.

"How'd it go?" she looked up at Arisa who looked down at her with Tohru right beside her. "Tohru-chan here got eighty-five!" she proudly said. Tohru blushed at the praise Arisa gave her. "She really did her best! I myself got an eighty-seven, cool ne?" Hana gave her a small smile of congratulations.

"I'm glad Tohru-kun and Uo-kun have high scores." She said.

"What's your score, Hana-chan?" Tohru asked with excitement and enthusiasm. Hana quickly folded her paper to hide the score and smiled to her good friend.

"I passed." As her friends continued talking to her, her mind wandered to the one that helped her achieve such a high grade. She turned her eyes to Yuki's seat, seeing him surrounded by the many students congratulating him for yet again having the highest score in class. She remembered the patience Yuki exhibited when he was helping her study and memorize dates and names of people who betrayed each other and blinded themselves with self-righteousness.

The smile never left his kind, beautiful face. When she got it wrong he'd simply laugh and say, 'what's your other answer?' She couldn't feel evil waves from him, no underlying intentions, no fear towards her. Simply the bright waves of calm contentment washed over her the whole time. What was it that possessed the great Prince Yuki to help her? She sighed in her mind; she supposed she would never know. For the first time, someone was too complicated for her to figure out.

A few minutes after the bell rang for the students to go home and the school girls evacuated his clinic, there was a soft knocking at her door. Hatori sighed, getting impatient with the many imaginary pains these girls were presenting him. It wasn't worth his time and he wasn't even interested in any of them. There was only one student who could catch his eye…"Enter." The door opened slowly and speaking of the devil, there she was with a tray of hot tea.

Hanajima looked up at him and bowed slightly, entering the room and setting the tray of tea down on the table beside the handsome doctor. "Miss Secretary sent you these. She wants you to meet her at the parking lot before the school closes." She said emotionlessly. Hatori watched her intently, imbedding her every movement into the memory of his mind. He memorized every detail of her appearance from head to toe; from the neat braid of her ebony black hair to the modesty of her school uniform, leaving much for the imagination to roam.

She noticed the stare she got from him but chose to ignore it. She bowed her leave and started to walk away when he said nothing. "Hanajima-san." He called suddenly. She stopped in her tracks, shivering at the low, almost husky tone of his voice. "How was your day?" he asked with a raised brow.

She turned to him, blinking twice in wonder why Hatori would ask her that. But she must be polite and answer. "Fine. Yours?"

He gestured to the seat across him, offering it to her. She gracefully took it and sat down. "So and so." He answered curtly. "How is your mother?" Last Sunday, after the lunch she had with him he drove her home. When her mother met him, she was pissed. But when she found out he was a doctor, he was suddenly so welcomed as if he was a part of the family. Hatori quickly saw through this but said nothing.

"She wished she were younger." Hana joked with a smirk, pouring them both a cup of tea after Hatori gestured for her to do so. Hatori chuckled lowly at that. Their morbid humor was in sync so he understood what she was talking about.

He thanked her, taking the cup she offered him, his fingers grazing hers. "She seemed quite enlightened at my profession." He said, staring at her as he drank his cup.

Hana gave him a Mona Lisa smile, knowing that they were indirectly backstabbing her own mother. Her mother was a gold-digger. It was obvious enough for the both of them. And to think that they would talk about her like that was quite amusing. Not to mention if her mother heard this, she would be too dense to catch up or get the hint.

"Is Hatori-san really this sinister, or is this a special occasion?" she said with a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Do you have anything planned tonight?" he asked directly. The amusement vanished from her tone and she suddenly became somber again. Was he asking her to a date?

"Are you—"

"Perhaps." He answered curtly.

"What about—"

"I have no interest in her."

She thought of what he said. Did that mean he had interest in her then? But then, she thought, why should he be interested in her? Perhaps he wanted something from her. But what could it be? Curiosity took a strong grip on her and she looked up at him and said, "Alright."

Hatori smiled a small smile of victory and said, "I'll drive you home and come back later at seven to pick you up."

Hana stared at him for a while, registering in her mind what he just said. Was it just her or was Hatori getting braver and braver by the second? She nodded then stood. "I'll just get my bag."

Hatori nodded, "I'll meet you here."

Everyone had already left the school except for the faculty and staff when Hatori and Hana made their way to his car. Hatori opened the door for her and rounded the car to sit behind the wheels. The drive home was silent and slow—almost deliberately so, yet both of them were comfortable in the other's presence.

Out of pure curiosity, Hatori asked out of the blue, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Hana took her time on answering, watching the other cars pass by. "Married."

The stop light turned red and Hatori stopped calmly. Married, huh? So that must be why she held the ring dear to her. She liked the thought of being married, was that it? If that was so, he could buy her as many rings as she liked. And the rings he'd give her wouldn't be cheap or fake. Not in the least. He would give her diamonds, pearls, rubies, and onyxes, anything she would so desire. He wondered what her reaction would be at the concept of marrying him. But he was getting ahead of himself. The light turned green and he started driving again.

"And after that?" he asked on.

"Dead."

Ah, the everlasting sleep. He could have guessed that a person so dark and morbid as she would only wish for something so peaceful and alluring as death. Hell, that was what he wanted a long time ago too. But it seemed that he was not good enough for death yet. He still had many sufferings to endure and many wrongs to commit.

"And you?" she asked, turning slowly to him. "What does Doctor Souma, Hatori wish to be after being a doctor?"

He gave a small wan smile, "Free…" he answered. Free from troubles, free from the past, free from pain and most of all free from Akito.

"After I die, I will look for you in the afterlife." She said lifelessly.

"What will you do when you find me?" he asked almost thoughtlessly.

A small ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "I'll say hello."

"And I'll say hi." He answered with light amusement at the simplicity and innocence of her answer.

"I'll hold you to that."

"So will I."

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Hanasaki Kaguya: I never actally read the manga so I don't know about a Mayuko-sensei. But if you tell me about her, maybe I can put her here if ever it does turn out to be yukixhana. Thanks!

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Different Child: lol! Don't worry about it, I'll spare you this time! Bwahahahahha! Thanks for reviewing this time, though!


	17. Date

**Due to a warning of a rumor that stories that put up review responses were taken off, I am now taking off the Review Response segment. Sorry. Thank you so much to everyone who supported this story. THANK YOU!**

Chapter 17:

The door opened and Hatori was fairly surprised to see Hanajima, Saki wearing a sleek black dress with a wide round neckline, exposing to him her pale yet undeniably enticing neck, slightly covered by a thin black laced choker. It left much for the imagination to roam. He was also surprised to see that she wore her hair in a half pony, some of her hair fashionably loose.

"Hanajima…" escaped his lips when he just registered in his mind that he was indeed awake.

"It was…my mother's decision." She said, a slight flush on her cheeks. She never wore anything so daring before. Even though the dress had long sleeves and the skirt reached the ground, the fact that she was exposing her neck was enough to be indecent for her. When Hatori still said nothing, she started turning back, "I will change."

"No." he quickly said. "It's alright. I don't mind." She gave him a nod and stepped out of the house. She saw his car and walked towards it when, "Hanajima-san." She turned around and her eyes widened when she saw him with a bouquet of red roses.

It was just like how she secretly wanted it. She was an old fashioned girl. And to be given a bouquet of red roses on the first date was…dare she say it? "Romantic." She said with an appraising look. Hatori smirked at that and gave her the flowers.

"I thought you might like it."

"I do."

"Shall we go now?"

"Hai."

As the drive went on, there was a comfortable silence while Hatori focused on driving and Hana focused on the driver. "Where are we going?"

"A restaurant my distant relative owns." He answered.

"I see." She said, turning back to her bouquet, sitting on her lap. He was Yuki's relative, which must mean that the restaurant is owned by Yuki's distant relative as well.

"You're beautiful." He said so suddenly that Hanajima's mouth actually opened to let out a gasp. Thankfully she stopped herself before she did.

Silence ensconced them until she finally replied, "Thank you." It was then that she decided to finally ask, "Souma-san, why did you…ask me out?"

Hatori felt hesitant to say it but he decided to say it nonetheless. "I…wanted to see you."

"You can see me everyday at school."

"Exactly. I see you everyday. I want to see what you look like when the sun isn't shining."

"The difference?"

They reached their destination and Hatori easily parked the car. Before turning off the engine, he answered, "I want to see you surpass the darkness." She watched him get out of the car and open her door, offering his hand for her to take. She took it, feeling the calloused hand of age and wisdom.

They entered the fancy restaurant and went to their reserved table. The place was painted gold all over; there was a fountain to their far left near the entrance. Waiters with disciplined expressions went from here to there, serving with ceremonial and graceful movements.

"What do you think?" he asked, gaining her attention. She turned to him.

"It's grand."

Before the conversation could continue, the waiter had already come. Hatori ordered for the two of them and Hana took the time to look around some more. It was then that she sighted something that made her eyes widen. Hatori saw her expression and his eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

"Yuki." She spoke softly. Hatori's eyes widened and he sharply turned to where Hana was looking at and indeed, there was the mouse staring back at them with surprised eyes. Behind him were Kyou, Tohru and Shigure, unaware of the tension slowly building up across the room.

"Yuki-kun, what are you—oh! Ha'ri! What a coincidence. Huh? Is that Hanajima-chan?" Shigure said, recognizing the couple quickly.

"Hana-chan?" Tohru asked.

"Hey, yeah, that's them." Kyou said, ceasing from struggling with the annoying tie around his neck. Earlier he'd been aggravated by it, not being accustomed to wearing things so formal. But to get in the restaurant, one had to wear formal clothes. "But what are they doing together?"

"Ufufufu! It looks like they're having a date." Shigure said with a mischievous smirk.

"Hatori-san and Hana-chan? In a date?" Tohru asked, sounding as if it couldn't be possible. Without warning, Yuki walked straight over to them. "Ah—Yuki-kun!" Tohru called back, their group following the prince.

Hatori and Hana both schooled their expressions as they saw Yuki coming closer with a dark look in his eyes. Wild. His waves were going wild. Many violent emotions were emanating from him, Hanajima concluded. She feared what he might do. A normal man with such wild waves could be called mad with rage. One would be bursting out and throwing a fit by now.

But Yuki continued to surprise her when he stopped in front of them and simply smiled. "Hatori-san, what a surprise. Do you mind if we sit here? Thanks." He didn't even give Hatori a chance to reply before sitting down beside Hana.

"Yuki, you should know better than to—" Shigure started, coming closer. But he then stopped when Yuki shot him a dangerous look saying 'sit or die'. He smiled widely, "but then again, there's no harm on sitting for dinner with old friends, right?" he said, sitting down beside Hatori.

"Who's old?" Hatori said, his dry humor covering his annoyance.

Shigure went on, distracting—er—talking to Hatori while Tohru and Kyou took their seats at the head of the table, across each other.

"Yuki-kun…" Hana said, staring up at the smiling Yuki. He turned to her and the smile vanished. She told him once not to lie to her again with such smiles and he will do just that.

"What are you doing here with him, may I ask?" he whispered with a calm voice.

"No, you may not." Hana said, turning back to Hatori, dismissing the subject. Yuki's frown deepened.

Hatori peaked Hanajima's way at the corner of his eye. Shigure was such an annoyance. Everyone was being an annoyance simply being there. His plans for dinner were ruined and it irked him very much. What was Yuki thinking, coming over to them and intruding in their dinner so rudely? It wasn't something Yuki, the gentle, polite, shy boy would usually do. Come to think of it, ever since his disappearance, he'd been acting very strangely. He wondered what happened in that one week when Yuki was hidden from their sight.

He remembered Akito's eyes burning with mad rage when he was informed of Yuki's little escapade. He went wild and threw a tantrum, screaming how Yuki was ungrateful and how he should rot in hell just like every other member of the cursed zodiac. Hatori patiently waited for his anger to wane. And when it did, Akito ordered that no one look for him.

"Stop." Hana whispered to him.

"Stop what?" Yuki icily asked as if he wasn't doing anything wrong. The food came and they were served. But Shigure gave him new orders to attain for the people that joined the two. Yuki didn't even look at her then; he was simply looking away at the dance floor where a few old couples were dancing.

"Your immature sensitivity."

"My what now?" he turned to her then. She turned to him too, staring at him with displeased eyes.

"…………………..nevermind."

He wanted to retort something to her but knew that it wasn't right. So he simply closed his mouth and looked away again. It seemed that she was disappointed in him. Well he was disappointed in her as well! Why was she with Hatori! In a fancy restaurant too! Why wouldn't she tell him! Why didn't he know about this? How long has it been going on? Was this their first date? Or…wait—he shouldn't be considering this a date. It wasn't a date. Why would he be dating Hana anyway? Why Hana of all people?

"So, Ha'ri, tell me; what's the occasion?"

"Nothing."

"Oh? Then why are you here with dear Hana-chan?" there was a mischievous glint in that dog's eyes and a playful smirk on his lips. But that didn't make Hatori doubt his answer.

"I asked her out to a date."

Everyone stopped at that. Shigure, Yuki and Kyou looked at him with disbelief while Tohru looked at Hana with surprise.

"And obviously, dear Hanajima-chan has accepted your invitation." Shigure said.

Yuki spoke through gritted teeth, "Then…" his fists balled tightly beneath the table. "we shouldn't have disturbed you." He finished. He turned to Shigure, "I'm going home." Then he turned to Tohru with a small smile, "Gomen, Honda-san demo, I don't feel so good. Congratulations on your promotion anyway."

With that Yuki stood and started walking out. Hana watched him walk out with blank eyes but in her heart was a soft aching. Sadness. First he felt Anger, then it turned to Sadness. Yuki was Sad. It was much sadder than the waves she used to feel from him. But that was a long time ago. For a while she had thought that the loneliness she felt in his waves were permanently gone. But now it seemed to have worsened. And for some reason, she felt the compelling urge to comfort him.

Shigure watched the scene play out with interest. So that was what's been going on in his household. It seems that Hanajima, Saki has captured two hearts. It was bound to happen though, he thought, when he found out that Hatori met Hanajima. Their dark personas mixed beautifully. But he was surprised to know that even Yuki had his heart stolen. He wondered how it started and yet at the same time he wanted to know how it'll end.

He looked at Hanajima, still looking to the door where Yuki had walked through and gone. He wondered who Hanajima will pick between the two. The person most compatible with her? Or the person most opposite from her? OOOH! THIS JUST INSPIRED HIM FOR A STOOOORRRRYYYY!


	18. Worry

Chapter 18: Perfect

Yuki sighed for the umpteenth time that long hot Monday afternoon. He seemed to have been doing that a lot ever since that fateful Saturday night. He had been keeping himself as far away as possible from both Hatori and Hanajima. It was just too much for him to see either one of them. He felt so angry at both of them; but the sadness had overridden that anger and he found he could blame no one else but himself.

Why was he so angry anyway? He wasn't her boyfriend or anything. They didn't have a relationship either. He was practically nothing to her. He didn't have the right to be angry and he finally figured it out. How could he have been so foolish?

Tohru looked up at Yuki who sat sadly under a tree, staring into nothingness with empty eyes. He looked so sad ever since that Saturday night. She couldn't understand what happened that made Yuki feel bad but she was starting to worry that maybe she had caused it in some way. A frown marred her innocent face as she walked slowly towards him.

"Souma-kun?" As if snapping out of a stupor, Yuki blinked and looked up at her, recognition showing in his eyes.

"Ah—H-Honda-san." He acknowledged, managing a fake smile. "Is there something you need?"

"Um—" she smiled unsurely and took out from behind her a pair of rackets and a shuttlecock. "I was thinking maybe Souma-kun would like to play a game with me?"

Yuki blinked twice, a bit surprised to hear that from Tohru. "Badminton?"

"Hai!" Tohru said, smiling more confidently and brightly now.

Yuki's eyebrows knitted together with confusion, "What about Kyou and the others?"

Tohru's eyes widened and she blushed, the smile disappearing from her face. Quickly she bowed her apologies. "Oh, I'm sorry, Souma-kun! I didn't think you wouldn't want to play with me. I mean—who am I anyway—I—I'm sorry! I'm sure you're simply too busy to be playing with me…doing school things and stuff—I'm really sorry—I—"

As Tohru continued to ramble on a small smile crept onto Yuki's face. Tohru was still the same old Tohru. It was a little refreshing, he had to admit. He'd been through such emotional turmoil nowadays; it was a breath of fresh air to find someone he could truly depend on to stay the same. Yes, maybe a good game of badminton with a good friend would be good for him.

"I'd love to, Honda-san…" Tohru stopped at that and looked up at him with those wide brown eyes.

"Eh?" she asked dimly.

Yuki took a racket and the shuttlecock from her hand and smiled a little wider, "I'd love to play badminton with you, Honda-san."

Slowly, a wide smile grew upon her lips and she giggled happily as Yuki led the way to the quadrangle.

* * *

As Hana walked down the stairs to the first floor, she was stopped upon the feeling of the familiar waves of a certain doctor. She looked up at him, walking the halls across from her and walking towards her. Their eyes locked for a moment, but she then bowed in respect.

"Shouldn't the doctor be up in his clinic in case of someone getting sick?" she asked with that impeccable neutral façade.

"A doctor can get impatient when the patient's only sickness is stupidity."

Hana spared him an amused smirk.

It was Hatori's turn to ask now, "Should a student really be walking aimlessly down the halls?"

"I'm not walking aimlessly." She answered blankly. "Miss Secretary wanted me to deliver the Cafeteria Lady a message."

"Well then, would you mind if a wandering doctor walked you to the cafeteria?"

"No." she simply answered before stepping out. Hatori and she walked side by side along the first floor in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Yet the root of both their thoughts centered upon one mouse—er—person…

Why had he reacted that way? They both asked in their minds. Why was the ever kind prince Yuki angry about seeing two people—who had absolutely nothing to do with him, having dinner?

Perhaps there _was_ something between them, Hatori thought. Should he tell Akito of his suspicions? What would be the result of doing such? Would it affect him? He turned his one good eye to the girl—no, woman beside him. At some point, would it affect her? Perhaps telling Akito would not be such a good idea. Not now, at least. He needed concrete proof first instead of jumping to conclusions. But in any case, it didn't matter for now since he was the one Hanajima strode along with, not Yuki.

* * *

Tohru and Yuki looked for a space in the quadrangle where they could play badminton since apparently the volleyball team decided to play in the quadrangle as well. They found a nice little spot near the school's building and soon they were having fun playing. Tohru was obviously doing her best while Yuki decided to just lay back and let her win a few rounds. After all, it was the gentlemanly way. It was the Princely way. It was Yuki's way.

He blinked when Tohru actually got hit on the top of her head with the shuttlecock. He suppressed a giggle and looked away only to have his mouth fall open when he caught sight of Hatori and Hanajima walking alongside each other in comfortable silence. Instantly he could feel the green venom of jealousy grow within him. Hs grip tightened on the racket and his eyes darkened, following them with his heated gaze.

Hana seemed to have noticed him then because she had turned to look at him straight in the eyes. Until then she was so beautiful…

"Souma-sempai! Abunai!" he was too late to turn when he heard his name being called. Without warning the volleyball had hit him on the head, bouncing off of his pretty little head and landing in the bushes a few feet away. For a moment his brain became splattered all over the floor but he blinked and gathered his wits.

"S-Souma-kun!" Tohru said, coming forward with complete worry etched on her face. A few players from the volleyball team came forward and quickly apologized, practically crying in despair.

Yuki put up his hand and put up a smile, "No, it's okay. I'm okay." He reassured.

"Are you sure, Souma-sempai?" the player asked with worry.

Yuki smiled again and nodded, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just gonna…wash my face. Excuse me, Honda-san." He said with that ever present fake smile. He turned to leave but didn't miss the look on Hana's face.

When the prince got hit by the ball, Hatori and Hana had turned to him fully, watching with blank expressions. And yet in Hana's eyes, there was something that shone. What could it be? Perhaps…genuine concern…?

When Yuki was out of sight, the player sighed of relief but suddenly stiffened when he heard his name being called in a haunting manner. He turned around with a shiver and his blood ran cold when he saw that the Prince Yuki fan club members who had witnessed the incident earlier were all gathered and glaring daggers at him.

"You hurt our beloved Prince Yuki!"

"We will never forgive you!"

"GET HIM!"

"Somebody SAVE ME!"

* * *

Yuki turned the faucet on and cupped running water into his hands, splashing it unto his face with a sigh. How embarrassing. And right in front of Hana-chan too. How could he have been so stupid ad careless? As water dripped from his peerless face, he opened his eyes to stare blankly down at the sink. He had felt it again. The jealousy. The jealousy that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

He had no right. Absolutely none.

He looked up at the mirror to wipe his face but faltered with wide eyes when he saw a dark figure standing a few feet away. He blinked twice, thinking it might be a hallucination. But it didn't disappear. It came closer.

He turned around to see her come so close, enough for him to reach her. "Hana-chan…" he acknowledged.

She looked up at him with those blank amethyst eyes. And yet he was surprised to see that worry was in there as well. Wordlessly, she reached up to touch the part of his head which was hit by the ball earlier. He blushed furiously at the feel of her skin to his.

"Does it still hurt…?" she asked tonelessly.

He struggled for an answer, "U-Uhm—n-no—not anymore."

She nodded in understanding and slowly withdrew her hand, he quickly missed her touch. She turned to leave but Yuki quickly thought how to keep her in his presence for a few more moments.

"Ah—H-Hana-chan!" Hana turned to him expectantly. Yuki looked down in shame, "I—I'm sorry about last Saturday. I didn't mean to be rude—"

"You weren't." he looked up at her, silenced. She looked at him with those same emotionless eyes and yet in them he could see that the worry was no longer existent. "You didn't feel well, so you excused yourself. There was nothing rude about your conduct."

"Ah—but—"

"Yuki." He stopped and stared at her, blushing wildly at the thoughts of her calling him by his first name. She gave him a long hard look before giving him a small smile. "You had no faults." She turned to leave, "You still don't."

"Yes." She turned to him again with a questioning brow. "I do. I do have faults. I'm chalk full of faults, Hana-chan. It's just that—people just don't see it. And I—"

But he was silenced when Hana came closer to him and took his hand in hers. She entwined her fingers with his, their wedding bands glimmering before both of them, and said softly, "Everyone is full of faults. But you are almost perfect. That is more than enough."

He looked down at those amethyst orbs, reveling in the tenderness she held. He smiled softly, "I believe you're perfect, Hana-chan." He whispered.

Faintly, he could see her eyes widen a fraction, her lips part a little, a blush appearing on her cheeks and she quickly withdrew her hand from his. She turned away and said blankly, "Do not fool yourself, Souma, Yuki…I will see you in class." She gave him one last fleeting glance before leaving.

Yuki smiled wildly, feeling everything in him fluttering. He was practically flying in midair! He was on top of the world! He was ecstatic!

Yet unknown to him, around the corner behind a lone oak tree hid a very confused Tohru. Her eyebrows were drawn together in confusion with her hands to her heart. So Hana and Yuki were…but why? How come? How did this happen? But the soul mate bottle said—should she even believe it? Was it even true?


	19. Different Circumstances

Chapter 19: Different Circumstances

Hana opened the door to the school gym, only to be greeted by the sight of busy bodies scuttling from here to there, readying lights and decorations for the Halloween ball. And in the middle of it all, of all the organized orchestra, was the regal conductor, the Prince Yuki.

"Yuki-sempai, where should we put this?" a young boy asked, holding up a pair of skeletons in wedding robes. Yuki was quick to give precise directions with a patient smile. The boy bowed his gratitude and respect before leaving Yuki to check his lists. Hana went inside and walked towards Yuki, schooling her features so that no one will notice the change in her; the sudden feeling of wanting to please, to make someone happy. Someone in particular.

Yuki heard her light footsteps despite the noise echoing in the gym and turned to her with a surprised look on his face. "Hana-chan? Shouldn't you be on your way home by now?"

Hana simply looked at him blankly and said, "I want to help."

Yuki blinked dumbly for a few moments. It was a rare occasion when one actually gets to witness a dumbfounded Yuki, but then again it was also a rare occasion when Hana would volunteer to do something that didn't involve Tohru.

"Ah—H-Hai! Um…alright. Uh—you can start with helping Choyushi-san with the banner. She's there at the stage." Hana nodded and turned to go to the stage when Yuki called to her. She turned and saw him smiling that ever charming smile at her. "Thank you for helping. We appreciate it."

A small smile appeared on Hana's face at that and she quickly banished it, nodding then leaving with satisfaction.

"Yuki-sempai, question."

"Uh, hai, Shuichi-kun?"

"Will we be wearing uniforms or costumes?"

"Oh, well the student body has decided that students want to wear costumes so…"

"I see…I wonder what my costume will be. What do you think, Yuki-sempai?"

"Um…maybe you should be Sherlock Holmes?" Yuki suggested with a kind smile.

"Oh, you really think so? Thanks, Yuki-sempai!" Shuichi said, bounding off to talk to his girlfriend.

Yuki turned back to Hana and found her staring blankly at a paintbrush as Choyushi busied herself with painting almost half of the banner. She raised her brow at Choyushi who worked diligently and tried her best to ignore the gothic teen. Yuki chuckled to himself, finding her adorable.

"Ah, Hana-chan?" she looked at him then and he smiled apologetically at her, "Would you look to do something else?"

* * *

Momiji and Haru walked along the quiet halls, Momiji talking cheerfully while Haru only half listened.

"Hey, Haru?" Haru looked down at Momiji only to see a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay? It's just that, you seem a little…off ever since…"

Suddenly, the little rabbit was slammed to the wall, a hard grip on his shoulders. He looked up at his companion, Black Haru, and was surprised to see such…sadness in his eyes.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear about it." He said sullenly.

"But Haru, Kagura said—"

"Shut up!"

Silence ensued. Then Momiji looked down so that his eyes would be shadowed. "I'm sorry." Instantly, Haru turned back to white and stepped away from the rabbit. Momiji looked up at him, watching his features return to its neutral expression.

"Gomen." But then his eyes sparkled as it caught a glimpse of something above Momiji's head. Momiji's eyebrows furrowed as a worried expression came over Haru's face. Momiji turned around to look up at the announcement on the bulletin board. His eyes widened and two words escaped his lips.

"Oh, Yuki…"

* * *

Yuki and Hana left the gym together, Hana brushing her arms off of staple bullets. "Thanks again for the help, Hana-chan." Yuki said.

"Yuki." She said, turning back to him. "Stop thanking me." Yuki just smiled brightly at her, bringing a small smile to her own lips.

"Would you like me to take you home?" he asked.

Hana was just about to answer when the gym door opened again and a student from inside called to the Prince.

"Yuki-sempai, please help. I think a few things are missing."

"I'll be right there." He answered. He turned back to Hana with an apologetic smile and Hana gave a small smile of her own.

"Go."

As Hana was about to leave the campus, someone called her name. She turned around and found that it was Momiji and Haru. Momiji had a very worried expression on her face, making Hana wonder why.

"You might want to see this." Haru said.

* * *

Hana stood in front of the bulletin board, finding herself staring at a large announcement in print covering almost the whole board and a picture of Yuki and her walking together along the hall set at the top of the bulletin. It read…

**WE ALL KNOW THAT THE WHOLE CAMPUS IS FAMILIAR WTH THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN IN THE PICTURE. HE IS NONE OTHER THAN OUR BELOVED PRINCE YUKI. BUT DO YOU KNOW THIS CREEPY NOBODY BESIDE OUR GREAT PRINCE? THIS GIRL IS HANAJIMA, SAKI. SHE IS A WITCH AND HAS CAST A SPELL UPON OUR WONDERFUL, KIND PRINCE. IT IS CLEAR THAT SHE IS USING HIM AND TRYING TO GET HIM TO THE DARK SIDE. IF YOU SEE THEM TOGETHER, AND IF YOU LOVE OUR PRINCE YUKI, DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO KEEP THEM FROM EACH OTHER. HELP US KEEP THE EVIL AWAY FROM OUR KIND-HEARTED PRINCE YUKI! LONG LIVE PRINCE YUKI!**

Momiji watched with anticipation as Hana read the announcement, seeing no change in the girl's blank expression. But if someone would look closer, they would see something glimmering in those dark orbs of hers.

Wordlessly, Hana turned to leave. "Hanajima." Haru called.

Hana stopped and craned her neck to look back at them, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. "Take care tonight. I heard it might rain." With that, she left.

* * *

Yuki came home late in the afternoon; the sky had a roseate hue when he entered the humble home. A small smile adorned his face as he entered his room and absently set his back down at his desk.

"You know, I really think you should add some curtains to your room." Yuki turned sharply to the all too familiar voice, the smile quickly vanishing from his face. He glared daggers at the annoying man sitting on his bed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked warily, obviously the presence of his quest was unwelcome.

"Why, Yuki, you should be kinder to your loving brother!" Ayame exclaimed, standing up and flipping his hair arrogantly.

"Get out."

"I heard your Halloween ball's coming soon."

"What about it?"

"Are you gonna have costumes?"

"Yes, wh—" before he could ask why, he had already regretted ever saying anything. Ayame had a certain gleam in his eyes at that and he quickly laughed onto the back of his hand.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! Oh, Yuki-kun, you didn't have to ask! I'd be glad to make you a costume! Oh, I wonder what I'll make you into."

"I didn't ask you."

"Yuki, Yuki, Yuki, no need to be shy. I'm your brother after all!"

"Who told you about this?"

"Why, Ha'ri, of course! Oh, is Hana-chan gonna come as well?"

"What? Maybe. Why?"

"OH! I'll make her a costume to! Yuki-kun, be a dear and send me her measurements okay?"

"What the—! I am not sending you her measurements!"

"Oh, well then I guess I'll just have Shigure get them for me."

"Through my dead body!"

"Wow, Yuki-kun, you can be really possessive about your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Then why are you blushing?"

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT!"

Ayame blinked as Yuki kicked him, not so gently, out of his room, slamming the door angrily behind him. A small smile appeared on his lips as he flipped his hair again. Yuki was so predictable.


	20. The Last Straw

Chapter 20: The Last Straw

Yuki closed his locker and turned to see Tohru, Hana and Uotani walking together. Tohru caught him staring at them and smiled widely, waving her hand high up in the air.

Yuki smiled as well, waving back to the princess of the Souma family. When Yuki saw Hana turn to him, his smile widened. Her eyes saddened suddenly, making Yuki's smile falter. Without a word, she turned and walked away. Yuki's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Tohru and Uotani followed their friend away.

What was that all about?

* * *

Yuki heard the ringing of the school bells, telling them that it was time for the end of classes. He stood up and turned to Hana who sat at the very back of the room, completely opposite from his spot at the very front. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw her leave as soon as she packed her bag. Usually she would wait for him to come to her and ask her to let him walk her home. What was wrong? Why was she in such a rush?

"Souma-kun." He turned to the voice and saw that it was Tohru with that bright smile of hers.

"Honda-san." Yuki said, smiling his usual smile. "How may I help you?"

"Um, well, you see…I was wondering if…" she visibly blushed, looking down at her toes and squirming in place. Yuki smiled, thinking how adorable she was. "…if you're going to the Halloween Ball with anyone yet."

Yuki's eyebrows rose in surprise and he took a moment to take it in. "I-iie, I haven't thought of that yet."

"Oh…well then…"

"Isn't Kyou coming?"

"Um—no, he said he had other things to do. He didn't tell me, though." At that, her face expressed sadness. If there was one thing that Yuki never wanted to see ever, other than Akito, it was a saddened Tohru. But she could not ask him. That would be too embarrassing. With that thought in mind, Yuki smiled kindly.

"I will see if I'm not busy in the Halloween Ball. If I have a free schedule, I would love to be your escort, Honda-san."

Tohru quickly brightened up, staring at him with those wide brown eyes. "Really?"

"Hai." Yuki nodded, smiling at the now happy Tohru.

"Arigatou, Souma-kun!" Tohru said, bowing again and again. Yuki could only smile, glad to have made their princess smile again.

* * *

"Oi! Hanajima!" Hana turned to look at her friend Arisa as she walked casually towards her with a worried look. "Are you alright?"

"…." She grunted, cocking her head to the side as if to ask _'why would you ask that?'_

"You've been real quiet lately." Hana raised a brow at that but let Arisa continue. "And you're walking through classes like a giant frog's chasing you down. I don't even catch you leaving the room, you just disappear!"

"Nothing is wrong with me." She stated in her deadpan tone.

"Yes there is—" but they stopped when somebody called to Hana. Arisa turned around and saw that it was Yuki who called to her from the doorway of their classroom. "Hey, Hanajima, the Prince is calling you." She turned to look at Hanajima only to find her still walking, not even glancing back at Yuki. "Oi! Hanajima!" she turned back to Yuki, seeing a strange look in his eyes, before running after Hana.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? The Prince was calling you, didn't you hear?"

Hana's face did not change, it still held no emotion. "No, I didn't. Pity."

"Hana—" but she was silenced when Hana suddenly turned to her with a glare. She froze, for never had Hanajima Saki ever glared at her before. She had never been at the receiving end of this quiet girl's anger before and now that she had been given a threat, she suddenly found herself terrified.

When Arisa had silenced, Hana resumed to walking, her glare disappearing quickly. "I'm tired." She excused. It also served as her apology.

* * *

Hatori stood outside the school building, smoking lazily underneath an old oak tree. He inhaled and exhaled smoke, polluting his body bit by bit. He knew he was a hypocrite. Being a doctor, he tells his patients to quit smoking, drinking or any other vices that may affect their physical health. But look at him. He was the one smoking, killing himself slowly.

It was as he thought of such things that Hana passed the halls in front of him. She stopped right when she caught Hatori's eye. She turned to him, having felt his familiar waves and the heat of his stare. Almost nonchalantly, she faced him fully and bowed out of custom.

Hatori's eyebrow rose. Someone was in a bad mood. Casually, he walked from the comfy shade of the tree to come to her, throwing his cigarette to the ground in the process and stepping on it. She watched him come closer with emotionless eyes, up until he was an arm's reach away.

"Escaping?" she suddenly asked, turning her gaze to the cigarette Hatori just put out.

"You could say that." Yes, perhaps escaping was the proper word. He was trying to kill himself to escape; escape from the curse, from Akito…from life itself… "What about you?"

"Maybe."

Silence ensued between them as birds chirped up above a certain tree and the wind blew gently, making leaves rustle. "I'll take you home."

For a moment she hesitated, but then she nodded.

Hatori and Hanajima walked the halls side by side in silence, the 'witch' simply going where the doctor was going. "How was your day?" She spoke softly, never turning her eyes from the path that lay in front of her.

"Dreary. And you?"

"So-so."

Hatori looked at her for a moment, not believing her statement. Obviously there was something that made Hanajima…angry? Perhaps. Disappointed? Maybe. Sad? Highly impossible. But he supposed it was none of his business. If she wanted to keep it to herself, she would keep it to herself. Besides, he was not the kind of person who asks 'what's wrong?' when it doesn't concern his profession or family.

But admittedly, he was a bit curious as to what could set Hanajima off as much as she was at that time.

Turning back to the path before him, he pushed the thought back into the darker recesses of his mind. That should be pondered on later, not at the moment. At the moment, he had Hanajima with him. At the moment, all that mattered was her.

As they walked down the halls, they passed by a certain room where studious students were having a council meeting about the last details for the Halloween Ball instead of going home. And predictably, Yuki was inside. He was speaking in front of the class at the exact moment they passed the room.

His eyes widened when he caught sight of Hana with Hatori. Suddenly something within him was awakened again and this time, it was not so foreign to him. Jealousy. His grip on the table tightened, almost loosing control of his strength and breaking it. His eyes narrowed and darkened almost visibly to his audience and his jaw tightened.

No more. He would take no more. The whole day she had ignored him, the whole day she had avoided him. The whole day he had been wondering if he'd done anything wrong, the whole day he'd been bothered about her strange behavior. He'd been patient enough, trying to set aside the fact that he could not concentrate in his work for he was far too bothered by her coldness towards him.

And to see that she was once again with Hatori, whom he had unconsciously considered as his rival…it was the last straw. Letting go of the abused table, Yuki excused himself in a low whisper, ignoring the questions of his subordinates.

He opened the door and slammed it shut, catching the attention of the morbid couple who were a few feet away. Hana and Hatori both turned to the sound, surprised to see that it was Yuki who stood in the middle of the hallway, his eyes shadowed by his bangs and his hands tightly clenched at his sides.

When Yuki finally raised his face to look at the two, Hanajima almost gasped as the intensity in those eyes of his, his aura was positively red with anger and green with jealousy.

"What's going on?" He asked darkly, his intense amethyst eyes turned to Hana. Hatori raised a brow at him but Hana was cool enough to keep her emotionless façade. Hana closed her eyes calmly and turned to Hatori, opening them again and speaking in her deadpan tone.

"May we have a moment alone?"

Understanding, not questioning, Hatori nodded and turned to leave. But not before saying, "I'll be in the parking lot."

Hana nodded and turned back to Yuki as Hatori left.

"What are you talking about, Souma-kun?"

Yuki's fists tightened even more. He stopped himself before bearing his teeth in agitation. "Why?" he said, "Why are you distancing yourself from me?"

For a long while, Hana just stared at him and then, "I never liked it whenever things got too complicated. I don't like handling complicated things; it's just too much trouble. When you came into my Tohru-chan's life I almost hated you for it because I knew Souma Yuki was going to complicate Tohru-chan's life. But Tohru wanted you and your family in her life so I had no choice but to accept it."

"But now, Yuki-kun—iie, Souma-kun has entered my life. Ever since then my mind has become baffled, I've felt more than I want to acknowledge, my life has become complicated and confusing. I don't want this, Souma Yuki. I never wanted it."

"So," Yuki said, "You're saying I'm nothing but trouble to you?"

"Yes." She icily answered. "And I am nothing but trouble to you. We cannot be acquainted with each other Souma-kun. A beautiful prince cannot be seen with an ugly witch."

"What nonsense." He said softly, angry but at the same time saddened. "I'm not a prince and you're not a witch. We're both just human beings. Why are you so afraid? What are you so afraid of? Why don't you just trust me? I don't listen to what they say, why can't you?"

"Because I don't deserve to be with you." She answered softly, lowering her head so that the watering in her eyes may be hidden.

"Why not! Who has the right to say such things?"

"The world."

Yuki walked forwards briskly, shocking the gothic girl by grabbing her arms. Her widened, watery eyes stared up at him. At the sight of her eyes, Yuki's fury diminished and was replaced by a deep sadness. "They don't know what makes me happy." He whispered.

"It's for the best."

"No, it's not!" Yuki said, his grip tightening on her arms. Something in his tone broke her heart, his eyes were pleading to her. "Isn't it fair to me to give me the right to choose who makes me happy?"

"I cannot make you happy."

"Yes you can and you do! Why is it so hard to accept that?"

_Bump, bump. Bump, bump_. Went her heart. Immediately she struggled from his grip. "Stop. Stop this." He would not let go of her. _Stop making me believe such things_. _Stop._

"Don't run away, Hana-chan. Don't hide anymore."

She stopped struggling, her eyes were shadowed. Then she spoke, "Isn't it fair to me to give me the right to reject the friendship you offer?"

At that, Yuki's heart broke. Reluctantly, he let go of her. He couldn't say it. He simply couldn't say the words he wished he could. _I'm not offering you friendship…I'm offering you my heart…_

When Hana was free, she quickly turned to briskly walk away. But then Yuki called her name. She stopped.

"If you want me to get out of your life completely…please do me one favor…"

She turned her head to look at him with that same neutral façade.

"Please come with me to the Halloween Ball."

Hana thought of it for the longest while, and then…"Alright."


	21. Foolish

Chapter 21: Foolish

Hatori watched as Hanajima walked briskly towards him with that ever emotionless face. He said nothing, not wanting to pressure her to answer. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it just yet. Though he was extremely curious.

They entered the car and Hatori drove her home. The whole time Hana had looked out the window since it started to rain. She watched the rain drops splatter onto the window with blank eyes, not saying a single word.

The radio was tuned onto the weather forecast and it said that a typhoon would be passing by their school next week. Precisely at the same time of the Halloween Ball. For Hatori, that didn't bide well.

Hatori walked her to the door with an umbrella. Hana bowed to him, expressing her gratitude and turned to open the door.

"Hanajima."

"…"

"If Yuki said something to you—"

"No."

"…"

She turned to face him and gave him a wan smile. "He asked me to the Halloween Ball."

* * *

"S-S-SOUMA-KUN!" Tohru yelled as Yuki entered the house, dripping wet from the rain.

"Oh no! Yuki-kun, look what you did to my lovely floor!" Shigure whined playfully, trying to lighten the mood since he saw the deep scowl on the young boy's pretty face. But Yuki was unresponsive.

"W-w-wait! I'll—I'll get a towel for Souma-kun!" Tohru said, running to get a towel. It was then that Kyou came down from his room and had to jump to the side before Tohru would bump into him. "Ah! G-gomen, Kyou-kun!" she said, bowing then running again.

"What the—" he couldn't finish his sentence when he looked at Yuki. "WOAH! What happened to you?"

Yuki didn't even spare him a glance. Instead, he plopped down into the living room, despite Shigure's whining. Yuki sighed and propped his head up on his knuckles, watching the television show Shigure was watching with blank eyes.

The older man looked at Yuki seriously this time, ignoring Kyou's incessant screaming about Yuki's 'rude' behavior. There was something definitely wrong with Yuki tonight.

Tohru came down quickly and gave Yuki the blanket which he wrapped around himself idly as if his whole body was aching. "Thank you...Honda-san…" he meekly said.

"Souma-kun, are you alright? Do you feel sick?" Tohru asked with great concern.

Yuki sighed again and looked up at Shigure. "Do you have Ayame's phone number?"

The whole household had the same expression on their faces; eyes wide and mouths formed into a small 'o'.

Shigure was the first to snap out of it and quickly posted a smile on his face, trying to hide the bewilderment he was experiencing. "W-Why do you ask, Yuki-kun?"

"I need to…talk to him."

And again, the whole household was still, shocked.

* * *

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH, YUKI, I KNEW YOU'D ONE DAY STEP UP AND TALK TO YOUR LOVING BROTHER! I KNEW YOU WOULD MISS ME AND FINALLY MUSTER UP THE COURAGE TO CALL! Though I must admit, you did take a while to come out of your shell. BUT THAT'S ALRIGHT! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE QUITE SHY AND IT MUST HAVE TAKEN MUCH COURAGE TO CALL YOUR WONDERFUL BROTHER!" Yuki had to hold the phone away from his ear, extending his whole arm. Unfortunately, even that did not soften the loud ramblings of his 'dear' brother.

"I didn't miss you." Yuki said quietly, returning the phone to his ear.

At Yuki's tone, Ayame quickly quieted. Yuki's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he heard nothing from the other line. "Ayame?"

"What happened…Yuki…?" his voice held something akin to worry. Yuki almost scoffed at him.

"Nothing." He dismissed. "I just called because I—I wanted you to—I needed a—" there was no way he could ask Ayame a favor. He just couldn't muster the strength!

"Is this about the upcoming Halloween Ball next week?" he asked with an all knowing tone.

Yuki's eyebrows raised in surprise. "You know?"

"Tori-san tells me about things at your school. Are you going?"

Silence met him before, "I wasn't planning to. But…I guess I became irrational." Yes irrational was the word. He had let his anger and jealousy go and did something he wasn't sure was the best way to end things between Hanajima and him. Blackmail. How honorable. He wondered what she thought of him now. Despicable perhaps. A low, desperate, lonely, little boy.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ayame suddenly exploded, making Yuki's ear drums crack under the pressure. "You're becoming more and more like your wonderful big brother every day, Yuki-kun! YES! YES! YES! GO AND FIGHT FOR YOUR LOVE! YES! ROMANCE SHALL TRIUMPH IN THE END!"

"SHUT UP!" Yuki yelled, losing his patience. "What made you think it was for romance anyway?" he mumbled, blushing at his transparency.

"Yuki, Yuki, Yuki…Every reckless thing a man does, _he does for **love**_." Yuki could practically hear the special effects of twinkling stars in the background as Ayame went on emoting. He sweat-dropped. He hoped he would never turn into another Ayame in the future. But…his brother did have a point.

"So, what do you wanna be?" he asked.

"I don't know. You pick." Yuki said.

"Wanna be a—"

"Anything except a prince charming."

"Huh?"

Yuki's eyes held loneliness once again and he looked out of the window, gathering his knees into his arm as he sat on his bed. "I…don't want to be a prince…"

"But you would look so—"

"Please…oniisan…"

Silence, and then, "Alright."

"Arigatou…"

"Is Hana-chan coming as well?"

He stiffened and sighed before answering, "Yeah."

"Great."

Yuki's eyebrows furrowed again, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing! ALRIGHT! LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE TO ME! I'LL DO A GOOD JOB AND MAKE YOU THE CENTER OF ATTENTION IN THAT HALLOWEEN BALL OF YOURS! JA NE, MY DEAR BROTHER!"

"W-wait! I don't want to be the—" but Ayaa already hung up. "center of attention…" he finished, hanging his head low. Damn Ayame.

* * *

Water splashed against her body much like how the rain outside splashed against her window. She stared into blank space as her hands lazily washed shampoo from her wavy ebony locks.

Her mind relayed everything that had transpired between Yuki and her. Those eyes of his…held so much pain. Was she the cause of that? Was she…too harsh?

She hardly ever asked herself that. She hardly ever doubted her actions before. But this time…she might have regretted saying those things to him. She might have hurt him.

"_So…you're saying I'm nothing but trouble to you?"_

She had definitely been too harsh.

"_What nonsense." He said softly, "I'm not a prince and you're not a witch. We're both just human beings. Why are you so afraid? What are you so afraid of?"_

How could he…how could he say those things so…freely…? She wasn't afraid of anything! She was the one who people feared…

_Yuki walked forwards briskly, shocking the gothic girl by grabbing her arms._

Her hands went down to her arms, holding the spots he held onto. The way he held her…It was like he was a drowning man, holding onto a lifeline. So desperate…so…sorrowful…

_Her widened, watery eyes stared up at him. At the sight of her eyes, Yuki's fury diminished and was replaced by a deep sadness. "They don't know what makes me happy." He whispered._

"Do you?" she whispered softly to no one in particular. That stupid, stupid prince.

"_I cannot make you happy."_

"_Yes you can and you do! Why is it so hard to accept that?"_

What about Tohru? Did she not make him happiest? Was she not the first…to open his heart? Why? Why wouldn't he let her go? Why couldn't he just…let her go…?

"Baka…"

"_Don't run away, Hana-chan. Don't hide anymore."_

Gently, she fell to her knees and crouched, her forehead almost touching the floor. Her beautiful hair pooled around her as the cold water beat onto her bare back.

"You…foolish prince…"

And the worst thing was that…

"You foolish…witch…"


	22. The Darkened Staircase

**Sorry for always being so late. Thanks to the people who are still supporting me and YUKIXHANA!**

Chapter 22: The Darkened Staircase

Ayame sighed happily, thinking how glad he was that Yuki completely forgot about their other conversation—which in truth was just another version of their latest brotherly talk. Thankfully the boy was just too busy in his schoolwork to remember the things his wonderful, caring and loving brother might have mentioned, like what he planned for the costumes.

"What are you so happy about?" Hatori asked, looking at Ayame strangely as the snake looked at his sketchpad.

Ayame smiled brightly at Hatori and said, "I'm just very happy for my dear younger brother, Ha'ari."

At the mention of Yuki, Hatori frowned deeply. "What happened?"

"He's in love." Ayame swooned.

Hatori faltered before sipping his tea and looked at Ayame unsurely. Could it be…? "How can you say that? Did he tell you?"

"Ha'ari, Ha'ari!" Ayame smirked, wagging his finger at his friend. "Even if he does not profess it to his dear brother, I should know romance when I see one!"

"See?"

"Oh, yes! I didn't tell you, did I? They came here once!"

"They did…?" he wasn't really sure who 'they' were but he had a good guess who.

"Yes! Though I can't seem to remember when they left or what happened after she came out of the dressing room."

"You made her wear your dresses?" he asked, his eyebrow rose in question. He could imagine it now, Hanajima wearing a tight little French maid outfit, or better yet—and for something much closer to home—a little black nurse uniform. He inwardly shuddered and fought to push the thoughts away before they awaken anything in him he might wish never existed. At least not in front of Ayame.

"Yup! And I must say she had potential!"

"To be what?"

"To be a head-turner! If only she smiled more and put some blush on to get some color on her face. I think I would have told her that but I just can't remember what happened next."

"Hn…" Was all Hatori could say. That was not solid evidence. It wasn't enough to report to Akito. Besides, if he did report such things to Akito, how would he react? Not yet, he told himself. He didn't want to tell Akito anything at the moment. He didn't want to get Hanajima involved in Akito in any way. As much as possible, he wanted Hanajima as far from their god as possible.

------------------------------------------------------------

Yuki walked along the isles of books, scanning for one particular book he needed for his history class. He really didn't rely on books much but he wanted to get every possible detail from any source he could find since their teacher seemed stricter that usual. It was a little strange why the history teacher always seemed crankier when a holiday in school was coming up. Yuki could only guess why.

Anyway, the Halloween Ball was tomorrow and everything was set and ready and right…

Almost

He sighed, stopping from his actions, closing his eyes and taking a moment to calm down his troubled mind.

In his insane, unexplainable jealousy, he had forgotten that he was going to take Tohru to the ball.

He was such a jerk.

How was he gonna do this? Take Tohru to the ball then leave her to be with Hanajima? How heartless could he be? He really hasn't been thinking things through lately and he was very irritable too. Once a freshman asked him where to find his locker and Yuki simply exploded on the poor boy that he should have more common sense.

Of course that was really what he wanted to say in his mind but he didn't want it to be said to the boy. The aforementioned victim of Yuki's heartlessness went off to find his locker with a slightly dejected look, making Yuki feel like a bag of manure.

He really hated this side of him; the evil side. The side he always struggled to fight back and suppress. He never wanted it to see the light of day. Unfortunately…today seemed like the day of reckoning for him.

And the worst part was…

He hadn't caught sight of Hanajima anywhere today. It seems as if the normally black figure (the only thing that stood out to him from the gigantic sea of gray) had vanished into thin air. Maybe that was why he felt so cranky today.

Where could she be? What could have happened to her? He needed to talk to her. He needed to see those blank, deep, perceptive eyes of hers. He needed to see those pale soft lips twitch upwards into a small smile.

"Souma-kun?"

"?" he turned and was slightly surprised, "Honda-san." He acknowledged.

"Please, don't mind me asking…but is something bothering you? I mean…I know it's none of my business, really and I have no right to ask you since I don't really mean much and can't really do much to help you but…You seem so distracted today. Even in class. And well…Are you feeling alright?" she asked, sincere concern in her eyes.

At the thought of Tohru's kindness, Yuki immediately felt a pang in his heart. Here she was, expecting him to be her date in Kyou's place and he was going to let her down. That was the last thing Yuki would ever want to do.

"Honda-san…I…"

When his eyes saddened, Tohru quickly reacted, "EH! D-D-Did I s-s-say something wrong! G-G-Gomen, Souma-kun! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you and I—I WAS JUST—I'm sorry! It's none of my business and I shouldn't be intruding and—Oh—I'm sorry!"

"No," Yuki said, shaking his head softly then looking at her with apologetic eyes. "You didn't offend me in any way, Honda-san. But…I have something to tell you…"

She blinked at him expectantly. Oh…how was he gonna break the news to her? How was he gonna tell her that he wanted to go with Hanajima now? He would sound like such a jerk.

But he was a jerk.

But he didn't want to be. This was Honda-san after all.

Whatever. He had to say it. He had to tell Honda-san the truth.

He took in a deep breath, then opened his mouth to speak, "I…" but he stopped when something black walked passed his vision behind Tohru and caught his eyes. He blinked and followed the black figure with his gaze.

Suddenly, his heart felt lighter than usual and he felt like grinning so wide he would probably look like an idiot. His mind went completely blank at the recognition of Hanajima.

"Souma-kun? Souma-kun?" his companion tried.

"Excuse me for a moment, please…" he muttered absently before going off to follow the black figure, leaving Tohru to stare and blink at his strange behavior.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hanajima slightly quickened her pace. She knew Yuki had seen her and was starting to follow her. She had dreaded it. She didn't like the way Yuki simply forgot about Tohru like that but…something inside her fluttered at the thought of distracting Yuki so easily. But that was what she dreaded in the first place.

She could hear his footsteps quicken so that he might catch up to her. She quickened her pace as well. She was running away—so it would seem—and he was chasing her. What a strange thing…

A few weeks ago, she would never have thought that Yuki would be the one following her around, trying to get her attention. The boy who had everything he could ever want; fame, fortune, intelligence, Tohru…was following her—the girl everybody was too afraid of to even talk too. They used to be worlds apart and now…now there they were.

When did Hanajima-san turn into Hana-chan?

When did The Prince turn into Yuki-kun?

When did the Witch start eating cheesecakes with The Prince?

It all happened too quickly. And it was all too complicated.

"Yuki-sempai, excuse us, but we wanted to ask for your help in some things." A few voices interrupted her train of thoughts and for a moment she paused. Those sounded like his fan members.

She could sense jealousy, anger and protectiveness. But most of all, she could sense great irritation. From Yuki? She turned out of curiosity and was not surprised to see a swarm of fans trying to distract him and surrounding him to block him from going anywhere else. He looked torn and turned his head here and there to look at the faces of the many girls that tried to get his attention.

This was the job of the fan club members: to protect Yuki from people like her. To keep him from making a mistake and ruining his perfection with nobodies like her. They were The Prince's Knights and they were willing to do anything to protect him and keep him locked up, safe inside his tower. For a moment, she pitied him and felt proud of herself for being so free.

But then his eyes met hers. Her heart stopped at the desperation in them and her wandering thoughts faltered. He needed to talk to her, his eyes said. But she kept her neutral façade. She didn't want to taint that which is pure with her darkness, her ugliness. She started to turn and leave when suddenly,

"Saki!" she stopped. Everything stopped. The screeching voices of the fans, the noisy squeaking of the sneakers, the chirping of the birds outside…everything stopped.

She turned around only to see him squirm his way out of the shocked hoard of girls towards her. And in one swift motion, he took her hand in his and swept her off into the distance. She had little time to react and found herself being pulled gently to God knows where, with a warm, soft palm enveloping her cold as dead hand.

He pulled her along in a sprint down the halls until they reached a staircase that led to somewhere that seemed familiar. He tightened his hold on her hand as they climbed the stairs that seemed endless to Hana.

At the end of the darkened staircase, there was a door. And—as if everything was in slow motion—Yuki pushed the door open and light flooded in, bathing her dark form and silhouetting Yuki's figure. She was seeing stars for a moment but she didn't close her eyes. She was too bewildered.

They were at the roof deck now and the sky was blue. The clouds were thick and made many strange shapes in the sky. The sun was calm and steady. Everything seemed so peaceful.

Yuki panted as he leaned forwards, resting his hands on his knees. He had a pained look on his face for a moment before breathing deep and standing straight again. "Gomen…" he said before turning around to face her with an apologetic smile—completely different from what she saw earlier. "I didn't mean to be so rough with you. I don't know what came over me."

She simply kept her silence for a moment before speaking, "Souma-kun…should be happy to know that so many girls care for him…" Yuki faltered at that. "But he isn't…is he?"

He smiled truthfully this time, putting his hands behind his back in a sheepish manner she didn't know he could pull off. "No, I'm really not." He turned around and looked up at the beautiful sky. "In fact, I'm always annoyed when they're around and I just want to shout at them whenever they take out that stupid Prince Yuki banner. I hate their stupid plots to try to seduce me and I get really mad whenever they try to look like innocent school girls. I hate it whenever they scream 'Long live Yuki-sempai' or 'all hail Prince Yuki'. And I hate it the most when they videotape me from across the halls thinking I don't notice. I hate it when I open my locker to find stupid, poorly written, grammatically incorrect and perfume induced love letters or poetry in it. I hate it when they pick on genuinely kind people, like Honda-san, so that she'll stay away from me. I hate it. I really do." He finally finished.

Everything was silent.

He turned back to look at her with a bright Prince Yuki smile. "Thank you for asking. I feel better now."

She nodded softly before mustering a smile. So he wasn't so shallow and self-centered after all. That was good. And to think that he was actually being truthful for once, showing her his true colors…it made her admire him only a little.

"Hana-chan…" he started again. "I'm really happy to see you again… and I'm sorry for troubling you this whole time. I didn't know how much trouble I was causing you. All I knew was that…I wanted to be with you." Her eyebrows furrowed. "I was being selfish and I didn't even try to understand where you were coming from. And so…you really don't have to go with me to the ball tomorrow. You don't have to go if you don't want to and I won't bother you anymore from now on."

She watched him with blank eyes and a misty mix of indefinable emotions inside her. She couldn't really describe what she was feeling right now. But if she tried her hardest…she would describe it as foreboding.

"So I suppose…this is thank you for your time and…goodbye." With that, he smiled his last smile and started to walk past her. She didn't move and kept her blank gaze forward.

"Yuki-kun…" she heard him stop. "Please make sure that Tohru-kun has fun tomorrow night."

A sad smile graced his lips. "Hana-chan…is so much kinder than she thinks…" with that he left.

It was ironic that just a few moments ago, she was running from him. And now…he left her. The misty mix of emotions only intensified…but this time, it was darker…


	23. If I Cry

**HANAYUKI FOREVERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The song you're about to read is originally mine. So please…be nice…**

Chapter 23: If I Cry

_One of the advantages of a great sorrow is that nothing else seems painful_

Giacomo Casanova once said that. Yuki vaguely wondered if the infamous womanizer, spy and adventurer felt so much grief in his life that nothing else seemed painful. What could have caused it? If he were to come across this line in his history book before…before everything became complicated…he would have thought of him as discontented. He had everything a normal man could ever want and yet he speaks of such a sorrow.

But Yuki understood completely what Casanova meant. It was not discontent for him. It was not the need for better things…it was the loneliness, the feeling of emptiness inside…the irony of having it all but lacking everything that's actually worth anything. Loneliness…

He looked at himself in the mirror, a soft tune playing from the radio at the corner of his room. He sighed. Of all the costumes to make him wear, Ayame just had to choose an angel. He would have accepted wearing the all white tuxedo, since it wasn't so bad. But the large white wings were ridiculous and embarrassing. He could just see the twinkle of admiration in the fan club members now. That was the last thing he wanted to see.

"YUKI-KUUUNNNN!!!!" Ayame's voice reverberated through the walls, making Yuki cringe. "ARE YOU FINISHED YET OR DO YOU NEED YOUR BIG BROTHER TO COME INSIDE AND HELP YOU INTO THOSE CLOTHES?!"

He slammed the door open, his eyebrow twitching at his brother's perverted invitation. "Stop shouting already, you're giving me a headache." He muttered, coming down the stairs and walking to the living room where he knew everyone was in.

Upon coming to the doorway, he couldn't help but stop and stare at the sight of Tohru in a beautiful pink dress with poofy layers and ribbons. She looked like a real princess with her hair braided to the side. _Just like how Hana-chan did it._ Damn it. He had to stop thinking about her.

He already gave her his word he wouldn't be bothering her anymore. He shouldn't…

But…

Thinking about her wasn't a crime, was it? He wouldn't be bothering her if he just thought of her, would he? Of course not…

"Oi! Quit starin' at her." He was snapped back into reality, only to see a blushing Tohru averting her gaze from him. He turned around to the voice and found that Kyou was right behind him, looking irate. "Jeez, you damn nezumi! You're even more perverted than that damn dog."

"I was simply appreciating Honda-san's appearances, Kyou. It's about time somebody appreciated her like how she deserves."

"What're you tryin' to say, huh?"

"That's not true, Yuki-kun!" Shigure butted in, looking away from his tea cup. "I appreciate our little flower all the time! How dare you say I don't appreciate her!"

"I wasn't talking about you." Yuki muttered, while Kyou yelled at him, "Don't butt in, pervert!"

"A-Ano…" Tohru interupted, blushing and holding her hands at her chest. Everyone looked at her. She bowed low and smiled to Yuki, "Thank you very much for agreeing to bring me to the ball, Souma-kun. I really appreciate it. Souma-kun and Ayame-san have done so much for me…"

Yuki smiled kindly, "Of course, Honda-san. Think nothing of it."

"Come now, dear brother. You don't want to be late for the ball, do you? Go! Go! Go!" Ayame said, pushing the couple out the door.

"AH—but what about Ayame-san?" Tohru asked.

"Oh, Tohru. Your concern for me is very touching. It almost makes me want to cry." He dramatized. "But please, don't worry about me. I have one last place to go to before I can rest."

"One more place, oniisan?" Yuki asked, curious now.

But Ayame wagged his finger at Yuki, "Secret!"

* * *

Hanajima set down the cheesecake on the table top so that she could share her joy with her loving brother. They ate in silence and peace. Hanajima turned her eyes to her brother whom she knew had been stealing glances at her the whole evening. "What do you wish to ask of me, Megumi-chan?"

Megumi, with his still blank expression, swallowed the piece of cheesecake in his mouth and answered with closed eyes. "You seem more animated then usual, neesan."

She raised a brow. Her? "Animated?"

"Just like now." Megumi said, taking another piece of cake in his mouth. "You're almost conspicuously sad."

"I'm not sad." She said, continuing to eat.

"Aren't you supposed to go to that Halloween Ball? It's supposed to be tonight, right?"

"I'm not going."

"Why not? Is Honda-san not gonna be there?"

"…"

"Or maybe that is why you won't go…"

"…"

Quickly, Megumi started to summon his powers, planning to cast a spell on Tohru for whatever it might have been that she did to his sister. But Hanajima stopped him before he could even begin chanting.

"It's not Tohru-chan's fault."

He resumed to blankly staring at his sister. "Then what—?"

He was silenced when Hanajima gently patted his head and smiled softly at her brother, "Stop worrying about me. You're too young to worry."

Suddenly, a familiar aura made its presence known and her smile quickly vanished.

"What?" Megumi asked.

"Megumi, lock the doors."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"A disaster is coming…"

* * *

At the ball, the music was playing loud and everyone was on the dance floor. The salt danced with the pepper and the pirate was having pleasant conversation with the dignified noblewoman. The detectives were laughing at the burglars' jokes and the queen of spades was flirting with the ace of hearts.

Yes, everyone was having a wonderful time. And among the crowd of exuberant youngsters, we see the beautiful angel, prince Yuki, surrounded by beauties and radiant smiles. He is admired by everyone and he graciously smiles his thanks. Everyone loved the prince. Everyone adored him and the prince would always smile and thank them while in his mind think bitterly and wish he was home again, safe inside his towers.

"Yuki-sempai, you really look so much like an angel!" a girl said.

"Sent down from heaven!" Another girl said.

"I wish you were my angel, Yuki-sempai…" A heterosexual said.

But the whole time Yuki simply smiled.

How pitiful it must be, to have to wear a mask, when all along he was… already wearing one. For a moment he had hoped that…for a moment, he had wanted…someone to see through to him. Someone who can save him from being trapped in his own skin…

The prince—all this time—was silently calling out for someone to save him. And for a moment, he thought that someone had heard him. For a moment…

_Hana-chan…_

He had hoped that the witch had heard him…

But…

"Souma-kun…" He blinked and looked at Tohru who looked up at him with worried eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Ah—hai." He hadn't realized that his mask had slipped. Honda-san had seen his smile turn into a frown. But he quickly smiled again, not wanting to cause worry to the girl. "I'm perfectly fine, Honda-san." Smile. Lie. Perfect.

Suddenly a softer tune played and the first words to the tune rang in his ears just as the doors of the gym opened.

_Would you be kinder_

_If I cried_

_I know I'm wrong but I _

_Just don't know why_

Everyone gasped and that caught his attention. He looked at Tohru whose eyes were wide just like everyone else's. They were all looking to the door and so—like any human being would—he looked as well.

_If to love you _

_Is to lie_

_Then would I be lying_

_Till I die_

His eyes widened and his lips parted; his mind, heart and whole body went completely numb.

_My soul is aching_

_For your touch_

_I want to say I love_

_So much…_

Hanajima walked through the open doors, looking nothing like the Hanajima they all used to know. She was wearing a black Victorian style dress with lacy sleeves flowing down to her wrists. Her flowing gown had gold embroidery all over it, accentuating curves no one but the prince knew she possessed. Her hair was flowing freely behind her, some straying over her shoulder. Around her pale neck was a black lacy choker and behind her hung black feathered wings.

_I can not utter_

_A single word_

_I wouldn't trade this moment_

_For the world_

She came forward, looking around with blank eyes and somehow his own two feet betrayed their bearer. The moment he realized that he had walked through the crowd to stand in front of her, he was already staring into her deep dark eyes.

_But you're too cold and_

_You don't know why_

_Would you be kinder_

_If I cry_

She stared back at him with the same unreadable emotion. And without a single word he took her hand in his and led her to the center of the floor.

_I found your truth tonight_

_I don't know why_

_If to love you_

_Is to lie_

Slowly, hesitantly but as if in a trance, the angel rested his gentle hand on the devil's hip and pulled her close to him. The devil, hesitant but as if in a trance, rested her trembling hand numbly on his shoulder and held him just as close.

_I'll take your hand tonight_

_And whisper kindness_

_Maybe in the end_

_You'll see my loneliness_

Slowly they danced, in their own little world…their eyes never strayed from each other's and it seemed that the whole world around them had ceased to exist. It was only the two of them now, these two entities and the music.

_And maybe at the end_

_Of this last dance_

_I'll find out why_

_If to love you_

"Why are you here?" the angel softly whispered, his heart feeling so strange and a fluttering in his stomach he'd never felt before.

_Is to lie_

"Your brother attacked my house."

Sweatdrop.

_Lalalalala…_

_Lalalala…_

_Lalalalala…_

_Lalalala…_

"Oh." He smiled sheepishly. "Gomen."

She smirked kindly but said nothing.

_I found your truth tonight_

_It made me smile_

_You're even more beautiful_

_Than a lie_

"I'm glad you came tonight, Hana-chan…" he smiled, sincerely this time.

Her smile faltered for a moment, her mind became blank at the sight of his sincerity. Until she mustered up the courage to smile and say, "You're beautiful tonight, Prince Tenshi."

And this time, the prince blushed a deep shade of red, his smile wider than any other smile he'd flashed the whole night. He laughed sincerely and softly while Hana smiled, watching him brighten the whole room effortlessly.

_Would you be kinder_

_If I cried_

_I know I'm wrong but I _

_Just don't know why_

"Thank you, Hana-chan…But I don't think a guy should be called 'beautiful'."

"How embarrassing it must be for beautiful women to be surpassed by a man."

_I want to say I love_

"You're quite bewitching tonight too, you know."

_The real and beautiful_

"Hmph…your brother is a forceful character."

"He's an embarrassment…"

_You…_

"But it's alright…He only thinks of Yuki-kun's happiness after all."

"So…you like my brother?"

"No."

Sweatdrop. "Hehe…"

"Yuki-kun…"

"Hai?"

"The song is over."

"Oh—Uh—yeah…"with that, their feet stopped and they stood still, remaining in each other's arms. His smile still lingered and she couldn't help but stare. Slowly, he bent down to whisper to her ear, "I love you…"

He could hear her gasp softly.


	24. Her Heart

**If you guys wanna see a HanaxYuki picture I made, I have a link in my bio to where I posted it.**

Chapter 24: Her Heart

He could feel his own heart beating so quickly that he would have hyperventilated by now. His whole body was frozen in fear as the possible outcomes of the things he just said flashed across his mind. But no matter what, he wasn't going to take it back. Yes, he was taking a risk to get his heart broken a second time. Yes, he was being brave and reckless at the same time. But the one thing he learned from his heartbreak with Honda-san…would be to cherish the moment and be brave enough to say what you feel. If not, then you'll lose the one you love. And he was not gonna let that happen again.

Even so, he stayed as still as a statue, still holding her body close, afraid to pull back and see what lies in her eyes.

Hanajima felt so confused. There was a stirring in her gut, a fluttering in her chest, and a burning sensation on her cheeks. Her eyebrows furrowed but the thought never came to her mind that she was standing in the middle of the dance floor, still in the arms of the Prince.

"I've been watching you…from afar for a long time now…" he tried to explain, his soft melodic voice ringing in her ear like the music surrounding them but more…intense…

"I think…that's how I fell in love with you…"

That's when he mustered up the strength to pull back and smile to her. "You don't have to answer me right away. I know this must be a surprise…I really didn't plan it either…"

"…" she wanted to say something…but what could she say, really? Thank you?

"Ah—H-Hanajima…" somebody spoke hesitantly, breaking the silence.

They both looked to the direction of the voice and found that it was Arisa in a pirate suit with an eye-patch over one of her widened eyes. Hanajima visibly stiffened and quickly stepped away from the angel.

But before Yuki could reach out to hold her hand again, somebody tapped on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was one of his fan girls who seemed to be struggling with her modesty. "Uhm—w-w-would you like to dance with me?"

"Uhm…" he turned to find that Hana had already stepped back into the shadows with Arisa. She was trying very hard to avoid his eyes and fight back the fluttering feeling in her gut. Disappointed, Yuki put up his fake smile and turned back to the woman in question. "Alright."

The girl was positively beaming and the night proceeded with more and more girls being added to the waiting list to dance with the him. And while the angel danced around the dance floor with different kinds of women and smiling the same fake smile, the devil was simply standing at the darker recesses of the decorated gym, glaring at anyone who dared to come close and ask to dance with her, threatening them with her dempa.

"Well, this is really a surprise." Arisa said, looking at Hanajima—her old friend's grand costume. Even if the normal Hana did come to the Halloween ball, she would have done so in a much scarier costume—like a witch in a cloak or something.

Hana turned to her friend with a blank stare and for a moment looked exasperated. "There was a disaster that forced me to come."

"Eh? Sounds really bad." She sympathized.

"Thank you." Hana simply said, turning back to the dance floor to watch the white prince posting his fake smile everywhere. The fluttering didn't stop even until then. Her hand rose to rest on her stomach. In the back of her mind, she knew what this meant. But she just couldn't bring herself to believe or accept it.

"But you know those wings aren't half bad. They're actually pretty cool." She said, trying to make her friend feel even a little relaxed in her uncharacteristic outfit.

A smirk appeared on her lips but the devil did not turn this time. "I've had them since I was born." She joked in a deadpan manner that made Arisa chuckle.

"Hana-chan…" a soft voice called.

The two turned their heads to find Tohru coming to them in a fluffy pink princess dress with her own little crown decorating that pretty head of hers.

"You look really pretty." Tohru said, smiling her best smile despite the small feeling inside of her.

"Tohru-kun is so much prettier." Hana complimented back.

"Yeah, you look just like a fairy princess or something." Arisa half complimented—half insulted. She really didn't like perky pink stuff—especially when it's fluffy. But since it was Tohru, she'd make an exemption.

Tohru blushed and smiled wider, "Arigatou…Ayame-san did this for me."

"Yuki-kun's brother did…?" So, what was the point of forcing her to come in that stupid dress if he was just going to have Tohru wear his dress too? Wasn't one model enough for that guy?

Tohru froze at Hana's words. "Yuki-'kun'?" she whispered to herself.

Hana quickly became aware of the sudden change of Tohru's aura and became concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Eh? Oh, nothing. I guess I'm getting hungry. I'll go get some punch." She excused.

The two friends stared at her as she went away. It was then that Arisa spoke, "She's hungry but she's gonna get punch?"

"Something's wrong with her." Hana said blankly, concern lacing her every deadpan toned word.

"I'll go check it out." Arisa said, putting a reassuring hand on Hana's shoulder. "You stay here."

Hana's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. As if Uotani heard her silent query, the pirate grinned knowingly and walked off to Tohru's direction, leaving the gothic girl confused and all alone.

"Um—Hanajima-san?" a boy asked from behind her.

Hana turned and glared at him, letting her dempa rise so that he may see that she wanted him to leave her alone. Damn that Ayame Souma for making her wear such an eye-catching costume!

The boy—dressed like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland—shivered in fear of the girl and quickly turned to leave, muttering to himself, "But she danced with Souma-kun, didn't she? Lucky Souma-kun…"

Hana sighed and turned back to the dance floor. He was still surrounded by them, still wearing that fake smile. Really, it was amazing that he could keep it up for so long.

"_I love you."_

He said those words.

As simple as that.

Was it always so simple?

Somehow she had expected something more grandeur from the prince.

But then again…he wasn't only a prince. He was also a high school student, a president, an idol, an icon, an intangible being that made itself tangible. It was remarkable, the transformation he underwent before her eyes from simply the prince to Yuki-kun.

She blinked and looked away. Why her? Why of all people…he said those words to her? Was that the reason why Yuki's been doing so many strange things lately? How come she didn't notice him watching her? When did it start and why? What about Tohru?

This was getting complicated again. She'd better leave. After all, she'd done what that sneaky Ayame wanted; she'd gone to the ball in his costume. As soon as she left, she could go home and sleep it off and simply…dismiss everything as a dream—or better yet—a nightmare.

She looked around while walking to the door, trying to see where Arisa and Tohru went so she could big them farewell, but then saw another boy coming towards her. Damn, not another one. She could just apologize to them tomorrow. For now, she needed to escape.

And out the door she went, not noticing that she had passed by a certain doctor.

When she was already a fair distance away from the gym, ignoring all the amazed stares directed at her, she stopped. Turning to the darker corner of the campus, where a lot of trees obscured and hid what they held within the mini-forest, Hana could feel a familiar aura.

"Tohru-kun?" she whispered, recognizing the mixed jumble of emotions to be hers. She couldn't feel Arisa's aura. Was Tohru alone in there?

Worried for her friend but not exactly showing it, she walked into the darkness calmly, trying to look for her best and dearest friend. "Tohru?" she called again but no one answered and she found herself standing beneath the gentle light of the moon in an abandoned clearing seeing as it was unkempt and the large round fountain behind her was not working.

"Hana-chan?" that wasn't Tohru's voice.

She turned around, only to see a white angel—iie—it was no angel. It was Yuki. What was he doing there?

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I should ask you the same question. Yuki-kun should be in the gym."

A small smile graced his lips, "I'm getting sick of all the attention, really."

A small smile graced her own lips. "I can imagine."

His smile grew into that rare boyish grin and she couldn't help but chuckle at how light hearted he had become. He came closer and she didn't turn away even if her heart fluttered so violently. When he was so close, only a step further and their bodies would have collided, he smiled sincerely…softly…and moved to sit on the fountain's rim.

"You're clothes will get dirty." She warned. It was white after all. Its purity would easily be ruined if he sat on that dirty unused fountain.

Watching him inspect the rim and dust it off a bit before sitting and saying, "I don't mind."

Somehow it held more meaning than it was supposed to.

"Would you like to sit with me?" he offered.

No more. No more of this game. It was getting complicated…the feeling inside of her was getting complicated. "Why?"

He blinked at her for a moment as if asking for her to explain and so she asked again. "Why me…?"

There was a moment of silence between them where all they did was stare at each other and admire the other's unique beauty. "Can anyone actually explain love to its full extent? And if he can…is it truly love, that which he is feeling?"

"Did you feel that way about me…when you asked me to buy cheesecakes with you?"

"I think…yes, I did."

"Are your eyes impaired? Did Yuki-kun hit his head somewhere? Perhaps too much stress?"

He laughed at her words, a gentle melody dancing with the wind that blew through the trees, making her hair mingle with it and making her heart flutter once again. Yuki shook his head, trying to calm himself down despite the banging of his heart in his chest. "I don't really know, Hana-chan. Before everything I used to reach out for was taken away from me…you were nobody…just Honda-san's creepy friend who simply likes black and lace. We hardly ever talked and sometimes I wouldn't even acknowledge your existence."

That was pretty much true, Hana thought. She was the same. They were from different worlds, after all and so they had nothing that tied them together…nothing but Tohru.

"But when I lost to Kyou…when I had nothing to hope for anymore…I saw you…"

"I don't—" she cut in. For some reason her eyes were watering. It must be that Ayame's damned make up. "I don't want to be loved simply as a replacement…" she said.

He smiled warmly, "Of course you're not." He stood up then, patting away dust from his pants. "No one can replace Honda-san's place in my heart. But at the same time, no one can replace yours." He raised his stare then, coming forward so that he may reach out to her and feel her soft skin with his fingertips.

She stiffened upon the feel of his warm hand cupping her cheek but found she could not run away. His stare was too deep and it consumed her entirely. "I like to see Hana-chan everyday and make her smile, and chuckle, and scoff, and be surprised…I love to see Hana-chan when it's me who's making her blush…just like right now."

Shit, she must've been blushing. "I can't believe the Prince can be so arrogant—" She tried to pull away but the hand that cupped her cheek gently maneuvered her to face him again.

"Whatever Hana-chan does…it really makes me happy…I hope you know…you're important to me."

Her heart. It skipped a beat. That must have been lethal or something. Was she going to die now? Her heart skipped a beat. That must mean something deadly, right?

She still had no answer for him and his smile dimmed for a moment. "It's alright. I understand if you don't feel the same. I'm not exactly you're type, now am I?" her type would more likely be Hatori, he thought sadly. He smiled despite that and stared at her for a moment—simple so beautiful…like the moon.

He leaned down until his lips were only inches from hers and her breath caught in her throat. There. It skipped another beat. Was she going to meet the grim reaper now? There is an angel in front of her after all. She could very well be sent to her death any time soon.

"May I kiss you?" he asked.

She couldn't help but scoff. Even until then, he was such a gentleman. He smiled kindly before closing his eyes and leaning forward, strangely enough, she closed her eyes too.

Gasp!

The two jumped at the sound of a small gasp and they looked to the source of the interruption. "H-Honda-san!" "Tohru-kun." They said in unison.

Hana's heart wrenched at the sight of Tohru's aura; confusion, jealousy, anger, bitterness, regret, sorrow. Why? Because of her? Because she still had feelings for the prince? Uncharacteristically, her grip on her skirt tightened and her heart wished she could clutch onto Yuki instead. She still loved him? She already chose Kyou and she still wanted him?

It felt like there was a soft but intense impact to her chest and she didn't know if she should go to the distressed girl or hold onto the angel in front of her.

"Honda-san—what's the matter?" Yuki asked, worry lacing his every word and shining in his eyes.

As he had said, no one can replace Tohru's place in his heart—Hana thought bitterly. But the conflict now was…would she give him up for Tohru's sake like what she always did with everything could have had that Tohru wanted?

Tohru's horrified expression turned to a broken and hurt one as she shook her head in denial. She quickly turned around and ran off, her crown flying from her head onto the leaf covered floor.

Upon instinct, Yuki made to follow her, "Honda-san—" but stopped when he felt a weak tug on his wings. Hana held onto them with trembling cold hands, the wind blowing harsher than before.

"Don't." she said softly. "Please don't…" that was all she could say. But she wanted to say more. Things like…

_If you love me…_

_If you truly are over her…_

_Please…_

_Don't follow her…_

_Don't leave me…_

_I love…_

"I'm sorry, Hana-chan. Honda-san needs me…" Yuki said, his head bowed so that his bangs would shadow his eyes. No matter what, Honda-san was still an important friend of his. And to see her cry was like torture. He needed to know what was wrong and to comfort her when she needs somebody the most.

The feathers of his wings slipped past her fingers just as a single rain drop fell onto the dusty rim of the fountain. Another fell, another and another until the light drizzle turned into harsh, cold rain. By that time, Yuki was already far gone. And she still stood at that same place, unmoving and drenched.

Ironic…

Very ironic…

She knew it was her fault as well…

For being too much of a coward.

He had reached out his hand for her…

But she was too afraid to take it…

And now…

Suddenly, the cold became colder and her legs became weaker. She fell to her knees, a soft thud the only sound that came from her. Then footsteps echoed in the clearing and she found herself imagining it to be Yuki with a worried expression on his face.

The rain stopped beating down on her, but it still resonated around her. She looked up, only to see that it was Hatori who held a black umbrella over their heads. He looked down at her with the same critical blank eyes as hers. His free hand slowly rose to wipe away something wet at the corner of her eye. "The next time you cry, cry out loud. So that I could come as soon as I hear you."

A tear fell from her blank eyes. She had been crying, she realized.


	25. No More

**Sorry for the long wait, got busy.**

Chapter 25: No More

The rain pattered over his head as it dripped from the petals of the pure white roses he held in his arms. The darkness of the whole place contrasted greatly to the beautiful bouquet. In his mind he still replayed the earlier events of that night.

The way Shigure convinced him to come to the ball wearing a formal black tuxedo, how embarrassed he was when he saw himself wearing such a thing but thinking how Tohru would like it.

The way he came to the Halloween Ball with only Tohru's smile in mind, the way he heard Yuki yell after her…

The way he turned around and the way Tohru sharply turned around too, only to wrap her arms around his cousin, Yuki.

The way smoke cleared and the way she still held his cursed form in her arms. The way her hair fell over her face and the way she apologized to him.

The way she confessed that she hated herself for being so jealous when she saw Yuki and her best friend, Hanajima, together. The way she told him that she was confused about her true feelings…

The way his heart broke when she whispered and sobbed the words, I think I still like you.

The way Yuki's eyes widened when he realized that Kyou was standing only a few steps away, capable of hearing every word said. And the way Tohru turned to him with eyes full of tears. The way the rain started to beat down on him as if he wasn't hurt enough, as if to tell him that this was not just a nightmare…that this was real.

_Kyou—kun…_she said it with such hesitance and shock.

He turned away finally, unable to bear the sight of her crying. He didn't want her to see him for he knew his eyes were sad.

_Kyou,_ Yuki called.

But he paid it no heed. He gritted his teeth, unable to take the heavy feeling in his chest. He felt so angry but not even his anger could surpass…his despair.

So he ran away. He ran as fast as he could, as far as he could go. Tohru's call for him rang in his ears even when he was miles away. He didn't want to turn around if all he was going to see were her tears. He didn't want to open his eyes if all he was going to see was the rain. He didn't want to cry if he didn't have Tohru to smile for him anymore.

Now far, far away from his pain, he stared down at the ground which held nothing significant. His hands gripped the beautiful bouquet tightly until the ivory flowers slowly withered to the rain-stained floor. His knees were trembling and his breaths were coming out in huffs. This was too much.

With a splash he fell to his knees and looked up to the weeping heavens, crying out the pain of his heart. He screamed and screamed until his voice cracked and he could scream no more. And then all that was left was tears and he cried…

He wanted to hate Yuki. He wanted to hate Tohru. They caused this heartache. But the saddest thing was that he couldn't bring himself to hate them. After all…he was the cat. And no one could ever love the cat.

Not even Tohru…

* * *

Hanajima sat in his clinic, staring out at the rain and the way it wrapped everything in darkness. The radio played a new song in the background; she hated every word of it. Hatori probably did too. But that didn't stop him from playing it. It was probably going to get stuck in her head after tonight.

_I asked her for a smile_

_She couldn't I don't know why_

_Could it be that it's all over?_

An image of an angel's winged back appeared in her mind. She could still remember the way Yuki ran. He got further and further away.

_Such a short love affair_

_I feel it's so unfair_

_But what can I do_

_To keep this love oh so true_

Her hands still trembled. She could still feel the way his wings slipped passed her fingers.

_The feelings can't be gone_

_We've only just begun_

_Now why must we end it?_

In all her years of knowing the Prince, she had never seen him walk away. She had seen him smile as if he meant, she'd seen him run his fingers through his hair in thought. She'd seen him receive gifts from fan girls and she'd seen him give them to someone else.

_I feel we should go on_

_Cause I could feel the fire's warmth_

_The sparks of love_

_That keeps it shining on..._

She'd seen his eyes sparkle with genuine happiness, and his aura brighten with genuine warmth, and his hand touch a shoulder of a friend in need with pure and genuine intentions. She'd seen him look at Tohru with longing, and at Kyou with contempt.

_I'll be standing here _

_Even though it's through_

_I have this space in my heart for you_

But she'd never seen him walk away before. She never thought she'd see the day that his back would go further and further from her…and be hurt by it.

_I don't know how I'll fake it_

_And I doubt if I can make it_

"I made you some tea." His deep voice broke through her musings and she turned from the window, pulling at the edges of the blanket he gave her so that it could wrap more securely around her shoulders.

_And if you get to realize_

_Just turn and look into my eyes_

She turned to him and watched him set down the tea on the table. He handed her a cup and their cold fingers grazed each other.

_Cause then you'd come know_

_That it was me after all..._

She brought it to her lips and drank, not caring that the water scalded her tongue and lips. It was warm…and right at that moment, she was colder than she'd ever been before.

_You know we still have time_

_It's not too late to change your mind_

_Why must we end it?_

"Are you feeling better?" he asked her, his face still an unreadable mask.

She looked up at him and asked back, "Why did you come for me?"

_I feel we should go on_

_Cause I could feel the fire's warmth_

_The sparks of love_

_That keeps it shining on..._

"I told you, didn't I? I'll always fix you." His words held so much caring in them. And Hana knew that was exactly what she needed. She needed to be fixed.

_I'll be standing here _

_Even though it's through_

_I have this space in my heart for you_

"Hatori…" she said, the name feeling foreign.

Hatori looked up at her with surprise but was unable to see her eyes for they were shadowed.

_I don't know how I'll fake it_

_And I doubt if I can make it_

"What would you do…if I kissed you…"

The tea cup he was holding slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor, spilling it's contents.

There was a long while of silence.

_And if you get to realize_

_Just turn and look into my eyes_

"I would…" he finally mustered. "…kiss you back." Would Yuki have said something like that? Would he have made the same face?

_Cause then you'd come know_

_That it was me after all..._

Without warning she stood and slowly walked towards him and all Hatori could feel was the wild beating of his heart. But Hanajima slipped on the tea cup that fell and Hatori caught her just in time.

White smoke poofed from him and Hanajima's eyes widened. She found herself looking down at a sea horse as she supported her own weight with her own two hands.

And Hatori, ashamed at first, told Hanajima everything.

_That it was me after all..._

"I think…it's cute." Hana said finally, still looking down at him. And tears started to well in Hatori's eyes at that, knowing that Hanajima said nothing but the truth. To feel so accepted and needed…as if the curse didn't matter at all…

_I'll be standing here _

_Even though it's through_

_I have this space in my heart for you_

Another poof came and he was back to his bare human self. And all he could do was take her face in his hands and pull her to him. Their lips collided just as lightning struck outside, casting silhouettes of their romance over the tea-stained floor.

_I don't know how I'll fake it_

_And I doubt if I can make it_

Did Yuki kiss like this?

_And if you get to realize_

No…

_Just turn and look into my eyes_

_Cause then you'd come know_

Hatori kissed like this. And Hatori answered her. And Hatori came for her… Yuki broke her and Hatori fixed her. A tear fell from her closed eye. No more Yuki. No more pain.

_That it was me after all..._

She hated this song with all her heart…but she knew it would get stuck to her mind.

No more Prince Yuki…


End file.
